Turkey’s nationalist opposition rejected the idea of a coalition with the ruling AK Party and refused to support a minority government on Monday, further complicating Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s efforts to break a debilitating political deadlock.
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President Tayyip Erdogan has made little secret of his preference for single-party rule and hopes that a new election would give the AK Party he founded an opportunity to win back its majority.
Davutoglu addressed reporters at a press conference at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara on Monday following negotiations with MHP leader Devlet Bahceli. “But there is no path possible for a coalition”, he added.
According to the prime ministry sources, Davutoglu will “talk with Bahceli without any prejudice”.
Davutoglu had on Thursday announced the collapse of several weeks of coalition talks with the second placed Republican People s Party (CHP), saying early elections now looked like the “only option” for Turkey. Two recent polls indicated that this could be a distinct possibility.
The country is now facing renewed conflict between the state and the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The lira extended losses after Davutoglu’s remarks and was trading 1 percent lower at 2.8616 per dollar at 6:28 p.m.in Istanbul.
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The ruling party came first in elections in June but lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in more than a decade, forcing it to seek a coalition partnership.
