Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s efforts to forge a coalition alliance with the country’s pro-secular party have failed, edging the country closer toward new elections. Prospects looked dim, however, raising expectations for new elections.
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The AK Party, co-founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, lost its parliamentary majority in June’s inconclusive election for the first time in more than a decade.
On Tuesday, the main decision-making body of the CHP voiced support for Kilicdaroglu, giving him “a full mandate to form a coalition government in line with Turkey’s interests”.
The talks Thursday come amid a sharp surge of violence, mounting pressure on Davutoglu to build a strong coalition government.
The political impasse comes as Ankara wages one of its biggest security operations in years – a cross-border offensive against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, and an offensive targeting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey.
It was earlier reported that the Turkish opposition People’s Republican Party put forward the final terms for the formation of a coalition government with the Justice and Development Party.
Party officials say its leadership has been encouraged by improvements in opinion polls, which suggest it could win a majority if an election were held now.
Speaking to the media at the party headquarters after meeting with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Davutoğlu said the two party were unable to reconcile differences on some areas, including foreign policy and education.
On Wednesday, Erdogan indicated that he would not be bothered by the failure of the coalition talks, saying their collapse would not be a reason for a party leader to “commit suicide”.
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Kilicdaroglu accused Erdogan earlier this month of obstructing the coalition efforts.
