Closely-watched poll shows Erdogan lagging election rival

ANKARA - A survey by the closely-watched pollster Konda on Thursday showed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan lagging his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu by more than five percentage points ahead of Sunday's presidential election.

The survey put support for Erdogan on 43.7% and Kilicdaroglu on 49.3%, leaving him short of the majority needed to win in the first round, suggesting the election would go to a run-off between the two men on May 28.

The findings reinforced the impression that Erdogan faces the biggest challenge of his two-decade rule in the vote. They were largely in line with some other polls that put Kilicdaroglu, candidate of the main opposition alliance, ahead.

The survey, carried out May 6-7, put support for the other two candidates at 4.8% for Sinan Ogan and 2.2% for Muharrem Ince. Konda said the majority of their voters were leaning towards voting for Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

The elections will take place three months after a devastating earthquake which killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and left millions homeless.

Konda, which publicly releases only one poll ahead of votes, undertook face-to-face interviews with 3,480 people across 35 provincial centres.