Ahead of the European Parliament elections to be held between June 4 and 7, the number of candidates of Turkish origin has soared, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Germany has the highest number of Turkish candidates. Ismail Ertug, Hidir Karademir and Macit Karaahmetoglu are candidates from the Social Democratic Party, or SPD, while Sidar Aydinlik, Kadriye Karci and Songul Karabulut are the Left Party's candidates. Christian Democratic Union's candidate is Dr. Yasar Bilgin.

Belgium came second in number of Turkish candidates. Meryem Almacı and Inan Asliyuce Flaman are Green Party candidates while Nermin Kumanova is a candidate for ECOLO, a green party from French-speaking Belgium. Mustafa Uzun is a candidate from the Christian People's Party. SPA-Spirit's (Flemish socialist) candidates with Turkish descent are Selahattin Kocak and Sener Ugurlu. In the Netherlands, Emine Bozkurt and Erdogan Kaya are candidates from leftist Party of Labor. Another Turkish candidate is Osman Bicen from D66. The French Socialist Party's Turkish candidate is Emrullah Deniz while the Danish Social Democrat Party's is Huseyin Arac. The Turkish-origin candidate of the British Labor Party is Nilgun Canver.