 A Reuters article that appeared in the French newspaper Le Monde stated that if Erdoğan became president, Turkey would face its greatest political crisis since the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, noting the intricate connections between the secular elites and the army, and that the Chief of the Turkish Armed Forces had warned people of the danger threatening Turkish secularism.The article also reported that the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Republican People's Party), the main opposition party, have declared their intention to leave the parliament and ask the Constitutional Court to cancel Erdoğan's running in the elections.On 18 April Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, the president of the Association of Turkish Businessman and Industrialists (TÜSİAD), stated that she felt Erdoğan would not stand as a candidate in the presidential election.