Turkish prime minister says prefers election as ‘soon as possible’

Davutoglu held a 1.5-hour meeting in Ankara with CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a last-ditch effort to agree a grand coalition after weeks of talks between their parties. However, many in the AKP, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reportedly favor elections as it could restore the party’s majority and enable it to realize its ambitions of a presidential system.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a fresh election now appeared to be the only option after last-ditch negotiations between his Islamist-rooted AK Party and the main opposition CHP yielded no deal.

The deadline to form a government expires on August. 23, when either the president or parliament can call a new election.

The results of the June 7 poll – where Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority for the first time since coming to power in 2002 – were widely seen as one of the worst blows of his political career.

Delegations from the ruling party and Kilicdaroglu’s secular party have held a series of meetings in search of common ground for a partnership despite their deep-seated rivalries.

But columnist Idiz says Davutoglu’s future could be defined by the outcome of the coalition talks. Although coalition governments were generally formed within a month of the election in past terms, Erdoğan delayed giving the task of forming the government to Davutoğlu.

Even though the country is on the road to the next ballot box, there is no guarantee that the AKP will get what it desires once an early election becomes official.

“These two parties should not avoid taking the big responsibility that history has put them in front of and should show their will and attention to form a government in line with national interests”, Bahceli said. “It would be better if the parliament decides on early elections through dialogue”, reported Bloomberg.

However, the coalition talks were unprecedented for Turkey, which has had 16 coalition governments since 1946, when the country started multi-party elections.

He also pointed out that the failure of coalition talks would not benefit anyone when Turkey is in the midst of a renewed conflict with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) which is deemed a terrorist organisation in Turkey and many parts of the west. “A historic opportunity was missed”.

The CHP’s Koc said his party’s aim was to form a coalition that would contribute to “overcoming multi-dimensional issues”.

Erdogan’s many critics, including the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) that rose against him – and won – in the elections, have warned that Erdogan is a unsafe man who is bent on dragging this North Atlantic Treaty Organisation country down a risky path, away from democracy and toward authoritarian rule.