“In any case, we have no time to waste with those who do not even know the address of Bestepe [Presidential Palace]”, he said. “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”.
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No single party won the Parliamentary majority to form a single-party government in the June 7 national elections.
If no new coalition partner is found by the end of next week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to use his right to call for early elections.
According the Hurriyet Daily News, Erdogan told academics at meeting on Wednesday he favoured forming an interim “election cabinet” before new polls in autumn. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, accused the president of seeking a legal basis for a “coup”. Davutoglu said Bahceli had also made clear his party would vote against an early election if such a proposal were to be put before parliament, a move which would make it hard for Davutoglu to resolve the crisis before an August.
Turkey’s political future is in limbo after talks between the ruling AK Party and the nationalist MHP Party broke down.
Erdogan also dismissed the criticism that he blocked coalition talks. But that’s unlikely since he officially informed Erdogan yesterday (Aug. 18) that he has thus far failed to form a government, suggesting that he’s given up.
Cemil Ertem’s remarks came a day after the Turkish lira hit a new low against the dollar after the Turkish central bank announced that it was holding interest rates at current levels.
Turkey, a member of the 62-nation coalition against ISIL, shares a 550-mile southern border with Syria, where the terrorist group has seized large areas over the past three years.
Erdogan received Davutoglu at 7.30 p.m. (1630 GMT) at the Presidential Palace in capital Ankara on Tuesday.
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The political drama comes as the government wages an unprecedented “anti-terror” offensive against extremists and Kurdish militants, although it vehemently denies the strikes were launched in the hope of providing a boost at the ballot box. Since July 25, the military and the PKK have engaged in tit-for-tat attacks, including a roadside bomb today that killed eight government soldiers in the southeastern province of Sirt.
