Turkey’s Erdogan calls for new constitution, reform in next four years

Erdogan is expected to ask Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to form a new government next week.

Days before traveling to Turkey for a G20 summit, Obama spoke to Erdogan to “congratulate the Turkish people on the November 1 elections” and discuss the summit, the White House said.

“But he’s a survivor”.

But EU Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn said the process was more important than the timing.

The concerns regarding Turkey’s regime should be left aside so the country can focus on the future, Erdogan added.

The remarks came while critics fear that granting sweeping powers to the president could put too much power in the hands of Erdogan, a leader they already consider too authoritarian.

However, the Turkish government said a few of the report’s observations were “unfair and even partly disproportionate, and ignore the freedom-security balance required in a democratic country governed by the rule of law”.

Southeast Turkey has been rocked by a new wave of unrest that has left several hundred people dead since a two-year-old truce between Ankara and the PKK fell apart in July.

In the past two years, Turkey has been waiting for its European Union membership to be legitimate. Many member states are not eager to see such a large, mostly Muslim country as a member. “Significant shortcomings have affected the judiciary, as well as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly”, RIA Novosti cited the reports as saying.

 The report was pushed back three weeks so it did not coincide with the election or sensitive negotiations with Turkey over stemming the flow of refugees and migrants into the EU. “Turkey reached a certain level of preparedness to effectively prevent and combat corruption” but “Turkey’s cv in the fight against corruption is still inadequate” readed the reports. “The European Parliament will not look away”, she said. Local officials said their injuries were not life-threatening.

It remains unclear how the zone would be set up, although Turkish press reports have not ruled out a ground operation by Turkish troops.

Yet not all experts are convinced that smooth relations lie ahead.