Turkey goes to elections after coalition talks fail

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says that coalition talks with the main opposition party had failed, paving the way for snap legislative elections as Ankara battles its biggest security crisis against militants in years.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority in June 7 polls for the first time since it came to power in 2002, in a major setback for its co-founder President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

AKP leader Davutoglu and Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu held a one-and-half hour meeting in Ankara in what was seen as a final chance to agree a coalition government.

“We have not been successful in assuring a favorable base for the creation of a government,” Davutoglu said at AKP headquarters afterwards, insisting the ruling party had “done its best.”

The country will head to elections sometime in November.

— AFP