Muharrem Ince, head of the Homeland Party (MP) and one of the four candidates running for the Presidency in the May 14 elections, announced that he would withdraw from the candidacy at a news conference on Thursday. Ince’s announcement, only three days before the vote, came as a surprise for the electorate. However, he signaled an important revelation when news channels reported on an extraordinary news conference on Thursday.

A coughing Ince, who has been absent from campaign rallies for the past two days due to an illness, spoke at length about what he called a smear campaign against him through doctored images and videos, purportedly showing an extramarital affair, him riding in fancy cars and "fake documents" of donations from supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Addressing reporters outside his party’s headquarters in the capital Ankara, 59-year-old Ince said he had not "witnessed what he witnessed in the past 45 days (since he announced his candidacy) in his past 45 years." "I am (defamed) through fake documents, cars I don’t own, people I am not related to, videos I am not actually in, videos doctored through porn videos obtained from an Israeli porn website," he said.

"This is the work of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), but unfortunately, opposition supporters shared it on social media. No politician in Türkiye ever witnessed such a defamation campaign," he said. Ince accused the state of "failure to protect his reputation," claiming prosecutors did not launch any investigation against the defamation. Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors in Ankara announced that they had found a probe over the allegations of defamation.

Since he declared his candidacy, Ince has been under fire by supporters of his former Republican People’s Party (CHP), whose leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is running in the elections on May 14. Supporters of the opposition bloc of six parties often accuse him of "dividing the vote" while they were united to defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Some even accused him of being "a pawn of Erdoğan used to undermine the opposition."

"Let them have no excuse if they lose the elections. Otherwise, they’d blame me only if they are defeated," Ince said at the news conference.

"I fought against FETÖ; I fought against the PKK. I fought against a new defamation campaign every day. I wasn’t aware I had such strength," Ince said in an emotional speech. He said his party would remain in the race in legislative elections. "It is an important part of Türkiye’s future and should be in Parliament. Atatürkists should be in Parliament," he said.

Ince and his party advocate an ideology adherent to the ideals of Republic of Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. They split from the CHP, founded by Atatürk, claiming that it had strayed from Atatürk’s ambitions for a secular, patriotic, free Türkiye.

"They thought I could not withdraw my candidacy; they claimed I was paid by (President Erdoğan) for nomination and cannot pay him back. I withdraw. I do it for my country. I gave Türkiye a third option against two alliances. I gave Türkiye a choice outside left and right. I tried to succeed, but I could not," he said.

Ince has received support from his opponents after the doctored videos circulated on social media. Binali Yıldırım, former prime minister and current deputy chair of the AK Party, denounced the campaign against Ince earlier. "This is the tactics of FETÖ, to stain the reputation of people," he said earlier on Thursday.

Most polls from last month put Ince in third place in a four-candidate race. According to the Supreme Election Council (YSK), his name will remain on the presidential ballot, and votes for him in overseas elections wrapped up earlier this week will still be counted. However, pundits believe that his withdrawal may play into the hands of Kılıçdaroğlu as it is unlikely that Ince’s supporters would endorse the other candidate Sinan Oğan, a staunch nationalist backed by the small ATA Alliance.

Ince started his political career in the CHP and was elected as the party’s lawmaker from the Yalova constituency during the 2002 elections. He twice challenged the leadership of Kılıçdaroğlu in 2014 and 2018. Kılıçdaroğlu himself took the reins in the CHP after his predecessor Deniz Baykal resigned over a sex tape scandal, again, attributed to FETÖ. Ironically, Baykal left on May 10, 2010, four days after his sex tape was released on social media. Yet, Ince failed to garner enough votes to defeat him in the CHP’s intraparty polls. Yet, Kılıçdaroğlu, whose party repeatedly lost all elections against the AK Party in two decades, nominated him as a contender against Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential elections. Erdoğan secured a landslide victory in the polls, while Ince is credited with boosting the CHP’s vote for the first time in decades in such an election to over 30%. After the post-election fallout with the CHP, Ince established his own party in 2021.

Commenting on Ince’s withdrawal, President Erdoğan said Thursday that he felt sorry for him. "I wonder what made him drop out of the race. I wish we could continue the race (with him)," he said.