(Adds detail from election rally in paragraph 6)
ANKARA, May 12 (Reuters) - Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main
challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, wore a
bulletproof vest at an election rally on Friday, two days before
a presidential election and in response to what a party source
said was intelligence that he could be attacked.
Footage also showed Kilicdaroglu's security detail carried
assault rifles and were on the stage with him as he delivered
his speech, the first time such protection was apparent during
his election campaign.
A source from Kilicdaroglu's Republican People's Party (CHP)
said the 74-year-old main opposition leader wore the vest and
security was ramped up after receiving "intelligence that he
could be attacked". The source did not elaborate.
Kilicdaroglu, who has a narrow lead over Erdogan in the
polls, was delivering a speech in the Black Sea city of Samsun.
Huge crowds turned out to see him, making a heart sign with
their hands, which has become an emblem of his campaign.
In an interview with Reuters on Friday, he said he was
confident of victory.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever
Writing by Ece Toksabay
Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Edmund Blair)
ece.toksabay.reuters.com@reuters.net))
