Chair of the Patriotic Party (VP) Doğu Perinçek announced the party's support for incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the presidential run-off set for May 28.

At a news conference in Istanbul, Perinçek invited people to vote for Erdoğan while criticizing Erdoğan’s rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The party, which did not field a candidate in the presidential race, won over 53,000 votes in the parliamentary polls. It brands itself "anti-imperialist" and advocates closer ties with Russia and China.

Perinçek said Türkiye was engaged in an armed struggle against threats from "the axis of the United States and Israel" and was resisting "Western imperialists" in the fields of economy, security and culture.

"Kılıçdaroğlu assumed a role in a project scripted by the United States and Israel against Türkiye and openly cooperates with the PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) terrorist groups. He is a candidate for a chaos project seeking revenge over the failed 2016 coup attempt, for a program of cultural decay and slavery to global financial centers," he said.

"On the other hand, President Erdoğan is targeted by imperialist plans, positioned Türkiye, and pursued a balanced policy toward adversaries and friends," he added.