But some analysts say the AKP could regain its majority by appealing to nationalist voters as violence rises and a fight intensifies against the insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which fought the Turkish state for Kurdish autonomy for more than three decades.
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Discussions between the Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) ended on Thursday.
ISTANBUL-Turkey’s premier on Thursday said talks to form a coalition government with the main opposition party had failed, paving the way for possible early elections and compounding political uncertainties at a time of rising turmoil.
The pro-secular party is strongly critical of the government’s policy on Syria, insisting that it abandons its insistence on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s removal.
Erdogan’s latest move is part of a deadly political chess game in which the president wants for himself the powers of a king: the Ak Saray, or White Palace, he built for himself, has 1,000 rooms and was built at a reported cost of $350 million.
The tweet referred to HDP’s popular election campaign motto which was first used by HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtas during a parliamentary group meeting on March 17 ahead of the June 7 elections.
Acting Culture Minister Ömer Çelik, who heads the AK Party delegation in “exploratory” coalition talks with the CHP, said the meeting would take place at 2 p.m.in Ankara. “Early elections are a strong possibility”.
“It is vitally important for the country that the AKP and the CHP chairmen make sacrifices to forge a coalition without wasting any time”, he said in a statement.
The MHP has said it does not favour a coalition with the ruling party, but has hinted it could support a short-lived minority AKP government as long as it leads to a quick election. “Why? Because if we win 18 more deputies in parliament, we have a single-party government”. Instead of recognising that they have to answer the clear voter mandate, several politicians have emphasised throughout that they would not cooperate with some other parties under any circumstances.
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If Mr. Davutoglu can’t secure a deal by August. 23, Mr. Erdogan can call snap elections, which would probably be November. Seeing Kurdish politicians in ministerial positions would be likely to enrage his core constituency, encouraging some to turn their backs on the AKP and bolstering his chances.
