Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, wore a bulletproof vest at an election rally on Friday, two days before a presidential election and in response to what a party source said was intelligence that he could be attacked.
Footage also showed Kilicdaroglu’s security detail carried assault rifles and were on the stage with him as he delivered his speech, the first time such protection was apparent during his election campaign.
A source from Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) said the 74-year-old main opposition leader wore the vest and security was ramped up after receiving “intelligence that he could be attacked”. The source did not elaborate.
Kilicdaroglu, who has a narrow lead over Erdogan in the polls, was delivering a speech in the Black Sea city of Samsun.
Huge crowds turned out to see him, making a heart sign with their hands, which has become an emblem of his campaign.
In an interview with Reuters, he said he was confident of victory.