Istanbul, 9 June 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday that he will run for re-election in the country's presidential race scheduled for June 2023, in a first official announcement. "Here I say, Tayyip Erdoğan is the People's Alliance' nominee [for president]," Erdoğan told supporters in the Aegean city of İzmir, referring to an election alliance with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Many observers consider next year's race as one of the most critical elections in recent Turkish history. After nearly 20 years in power, Erdoğan's conservative Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) will head to the polls amid a spiralling currency crisis, the highest inflation levels in two decades and growing unemployment, among other issues. The opposition also accuses Erdoğan of intensified intimidation of potential political rivals in view of the 2023 polls. The AKP and the MHP had formed an alliance in the 2018 elections, in which Erdoğan was re-elected with sweeping new powers. Their biggest rivals back then were the Nation's Alliance, including main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the national conservative İyi (Good) Party. Erdoğan on Thursday also urged CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to announce either his own candidacy or reveal his alliance's nominee. Recently CHP and İyi were joined by four more opposition parties, to agree on a strategy to replace what they call Erdogan's "authoritarian" rule. The bloc, which includes two former Erdogan aides, ex-premier Ahmet Davutoğlu and former economy tsar Ali Babacan, is yet to announce its presidential candidate.