Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at his main challenger in the upcoming elections over meetings with the pro-Kurdish HDP party. His opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu has made the parliamentary arm of a "terrorist organization" a partner, Erdogan said on Wednesday evening, according to a report by the state news agency Anadolu.

The HDP had previously decided not to put forward its own candidate for the May 14 presidential election. Observers conclude that she supports Kilicdaroglu's application. The votes of the HDP voters could be decisive.

According to the report, Erdogan once again equated the HDP with the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK, which the HDP firmly rejects. Against the background of the terrorism allegations, she is threatened with a ban before the presidential and parliamentary elections. Kilicdaroglu is running as the joint candidate of six opposition parties. Erdogan described the HDP as the "secret partner" of the six-party alliance. According to polls, the 69-year-old president, who has been in power for two decades, fears for his office.