The “Gandhi of Turkey” is chosen by the opposition to face Erdogan in the elections

Turkey’s often divided opposition parties have come together to choose a single candidate to face President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May’s election.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu leads the main secular opposition party, the center-left Republican People’s Party.

And polls suggest a tight race in the already highly polarized country after two decades of Erdogan’s authoritarian rule.

The economic crisis and mistakes in the response to the earthquake that struck the country last month may make the Turkish leader more vulnerable than in previous elections.

A large crowd of supporters cheered Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant, after he was elected by a six-party opposition alliance.

Known as “Kemal Gandhi” or “Turkey’s Gandhi” for his resemblance to civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi, the soft-spoken 74-year-old offers a radically different vision in both content and style to that of Erdogan.