The nomination of Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu as the joint presidential candidate by the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) continues to receive criticism as Turkey's Alevi associations and federations express their disapproval of the candidate for failing to meet the ideals of Alevi citizens while most Alevi representatives express they will not support İhsanoğlu in his presidential bid. Lawyer Ali İhsan Şahin, the president of Universal Alevi Bektaşi Association has told Daily Sabah that they were shocked and found it strange for CHP and MHP to nominate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu as their presidential candidate. "I did not quite understand why CHP came up with such a candidate" said Şahin, who expressed he has full insight into CHP's philosophy, has followed the expectations of its supporters and did not expect for someone like İhsanoğlu to be nominated by CHP, which is a secular party whereas, he claimed İhsanoğlu has conservative tendencies and has many features that resemble Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Şahin observed that CHP and MHP did not create an alternative to AK Party's candidate, which will most likely be Erdoğan, but rather came up with someone who is almost similar to the prime minister. "They should have just said there is no better alternative to Prime Minister Erdoğan" said Şahin, who noted regardless of how much Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of CHP criticizes Erdoğan, it seems that he secretly admires him. On the other hand, he expressed that neither CHP nor MHP asked for their insight into who the joint candidate should be as they do not fit CHP's ideals and there is a distance between the Universal Alevi Bektaşi Association and CHP. Şahin expressed that the ideal president for Alevis would be determined through discussions with Alevi dedes and underlined that they would not vote for İhsanoğlu. "The president should be someone who has served Alevis with his/her actions and words in the past" said Şahin, who claimed Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu has no involvement or relevance to Alevis whereas they expect someone who has taken steps regardless of how small they are and someone who has worked for Alevis' legal and constitutional rights to gain equal status. "We expect the presidential candidates to take into consideration the needs of 25 million Alevis and want them to explicitly outline their projects for Alevis when they become president" said Şahin, noting that they, like other Alevi associations and federations will be closely watching the process. Fevzi Gümüş, the Chairman of Alevi-Bektaşi Federation has expressed they have met with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu prior to the announcement of their candidate and conveyed their views about the candidate which he responded by saying that he would take them into consideration. "But he announced İhsanoğlu as the candidate two days later" said Gümüş, who stated İhsanoğlu has served as Alparslan Türkeş, former MHP leader's advisor and has Islamist tendencies. "İhsanoğlu does not respond to societal expectations and cannot be a candidate of Alevis" Gümüş noted. Likewise, Müslüm Doğan who is the chairman of Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association expressed İhsanoğlu was not a suitable candidate for Alevis and noted Alevis would not vote for someone nominated by MHP. On the other hand, Cengiz Hortoğlu, the president of Anadolu Alevi Bektaşi Federation voiced that as Alevis they want someone who will respond to the needs of everyone in the society and did not know if İhsanoğlu fit this criterion. He expressed that they will closely follow the campaigns of all candidates in the next 40 days and vote for the one who will respond to their needs. Hakkı Engin, spokesperson for the Federation of Alevi Associations has also told Daily Sabah that the Alevi Federations will meet and discuss the matter but the candidacy process in Turkey currently does not work as they would wish. He stated Alevis would want someone who will embrace everyone regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.While the debate continues, the government expresses that they will respond to the needs of all citizens as Erdoğan consistently highlights the fact that for almost a century there was a false perception in Turkey that if people were different, this would "divide and break the country into pieces". However, he expresses the current government has lifted such obstacles and allowed differences to flourish, which did not divide the country but has actually strengthened it while noting they will continue to take all measures to address the current issues faced by Turkey's minorities.