Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a news conference in Moscow in Russia, March 5, 2020 (Reuters)

Turkey will maintain strategic connections with Russia regardless of the outcome of the next presidential and parliamentary elections, because Moscow is a vital partner for Ankara in a number of sectors, according to Ozturk Yilmaz, head of the Turkish Innovation Party, told Sputnik.

"Regarding the relations with Russia I don’t think that any dramatic changes will take place. Russia is our strategic partner in many aspects. So whoever comes to power, they can’t ignore such reality," he declared.

Simultaneously, the opposition leader stated that Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the primary opponent of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is making "a lot of promises" to the West as he seeks deeper collaboration with Western countries.

According to Yilmaz, "He [Kilicdaroglu] is acting as if he is making distance from Russia, but more close relations with West. He is not himself doing that, but people around him give these ideas to him."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan's chief rival in the presidential elections race, accused Russia of manufacturing and spreading "deep fakes" ahead of this weekend's general elections.

Kilicdaroglu's allegation came after Moharram Ince, a third presidential candidate, announced his withdrawal from the presidential race because of being targetted by an online smear campaign.

Yilmaz created the Turkish opposition centrist party the Innovation Party in 2020 after being ejected from Kilicdaroglu's Republican People's Party due to internal problems.

Turkish presidential election candidate Muharrem Ince on Sunday announced he was withdrawing from the race, in a potential boost to the opposition's Kemal Kilicdaroglu from the Republican People's Party (CHP), the main rival of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.