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.
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“Because of the failure to form a government, we have to seek a solution with the will of the people … so we are heading rapidly towards an election again”, President Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech.
If however Erdogan uses his right to call the election himself, a so-called “election government” will be formed until the polls, consisting of members from all four parties represented in parliament. The deadline for a new government runs out at week’s end.
“Altogether and under the orders of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (…) let’s conquer Istanbul, which the traitor Erdogan works day and night to hand over to crusaders”, the man added, while referring to Islamic State’s leader.
Erdogan suffered a major setback in the June legislative elections when his ruling AK Party gave up seven legislative positions to the opposition losing their majority in parliament, forcing the prime minister to negotiate with smaller parties to form a coalition government.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said it would offer representatives to take part, but the nationalist MHP has made clear it would not countenance doing so. “I will have consultations with our honorable president and give up the duty [to form a government] if that is what is required after those talks”.
The bombing of the PKK-along with the sabotage of a new government-ultimately allowed Erdogan to force new elections and to load the deck against the Kurds, who are the singular reason he failed to obtain a parliamentary majority.
Erdogan’s AKP has dominated the Turkish political scene for more than a decade, finding a strong base of support among Turkey’s Muslim, social conservatives.
“There is now a president in the country not with symbolic power, but with literal power”, he said recently.
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Senior AKP officials had been betting that the nationalists, virulently opposed to greater Kurdish political power, would do anything possible to avoid a scenario in which the HDP would hold cabinet seats, even temporarily.
