Turkey’s president formally called a new election on Monday, a day after a deadline passed for forming a new government following an inconclusive vote in June.
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In addition, it is expected that the main opposition parties of the country such as the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will not join the formation of the interim government, the source said. The Turkish lira has dropped to record lows against the dollar amid the political uncertainty.
“Now all we can do is wait for an election in which the AK Party regains a single party government, then the forex rate will cool down”, said 26-year-old Omer, a small kebab restaurant manager in central Ankara.
Selahattin Demirtas told reporters he believed all HDP deputies were eligible for cabinet positions, apart from its co-leaders, who would be responsible for election preparations.
In a statement, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said Davutoglu, who heads the Justice and Development (AK) Party, had been appointed to form a government under Article 114 of the Turkish constitution.
However, Demirtas warned that he would not be surprised if leaders from the AKP aimed to exclude the HDP by reaching out directly to CHP and MHP parliamentarians with cabinet post offers: “we should not be surprised if they breach the constitution and try to form a government without HDP”.
Declaring it part of a “synchronized war on terror”, Turkey launched a military campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) a month ago, bombing the Kurdish militant group’s camps in the southeast and in northern Iraq in response to what it said were rising attacks against the security forces.
He reiterated the CHP will not be part of the interim government formed by the prime minister.
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The HDP, which represents progressive policies, as well as the Kurdish nationalist movement in Turkey, entered parliament for the first time in June, after winning 13 percent of the vote.
