Erdogan names candidates for March election. Former minister to challenge opposition Istanbul mayor

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday named several of his party’s candidates for March's nationwide election. The ruling party will try to recover cities lost to the opposition's Republican People’s Party, or CHP, five years ago — including the country's largest city, Istanbul, and the capital, Ankara. Erdogan said parliamentarian and former Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum will challenge Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition mayor of Istanbul, who has become nationally recognized.