President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Sunday he would ask Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to form a coalition government, after it lost its overall majority in legislative elections.
Should the AKP fail in the talks, Erdogan says he would then ask the second-placed opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to form the government.
And only if those talks failed, Erdogan says, would he use his right within the constitution to call early elections.
“It is unthinkable that the country is left without a government,” Erdogan tells Turkish media aboard his presidential plane while returning from a trip to Azerbaijan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference during a meeting with Romania’s President at the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest on April 1, 2015. (photo credit: AFP PHOTO / DANIEL MIHAILESCU)
“I will first give the mandate (for talks) to the head of the political party that won the most votes,” he says, referring to Prime Minister and AKP leader Ahmet Davutoglu.
“If it (a coalition) cannot be established, I will then give the mandate to the head of the party that finished second,” he says, referring to CHP chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Erdogan says snap elections would then follow if these talks failed, but says he preferred to term them “repeat elections” rather than “early elections.”
— AFP
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this