Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Thursday nominated Transport Minister Binali Yildirim as the sole candidate for the post of new party chief.
The ruling party's new leader -- and likely the next prime minister -- will be elected at the AKP's extraordinary convention scheduled for Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.
"With a huge consensus, we elected Binali Yildirim as the candidate of our party leadership," a spokesperson of the party said after the AKP's top decision-making body met on Thursday.
A day after an unexpected meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan earlier this month, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that the AKP would have an extraordinary congress and that he would not run for chairman.
--IANS
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