Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday banned music from his campaign stops and vowed to heal the earthquake-stricken nation's wounds as he formally set the next election for May 14, France 24 reports.
Erdogan signed a decree on national television that officially starts campaigning for what is widely seen as Turkey's most consequential vote of its post-Ottoman history.
It is also shaping into the most difficult of the 69-year-old leader's mercurial two-decade rule.
Voters will be given a stark choice between keeping Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party in power until 2028 or handing the reins back to the main secular party of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Erdogan said he will run under the slogan: "Now for Turkey".
But he set a sombre tone to the campaign season by banning music and instructing candidates from his party to contribute to the emergency service in charge of earthquake recovery work.
"Our agenda during the election (campaign) will focus on efforts to heal the wounds of earthquake victims and to compensate for economic and social harm," he said.
