- Title: TURKEY-POLITICS/DAVUTOGLU Turkey faces autumn election after coalition talks fail
- Date: 13th August 2015
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (AUGUST 13, 2015) (REUTERS) DAVUTOGLU ARRIVING FOR A NEWS CONFERENCE AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, AHMET DAVUTOGLU, SAYING: "We have exchanged our views in a very nice and sincere atmosphere. They have 12 years of experience as an opposition party. We have 12 years of experience as a ruling party and we decided on continuing this dialogue and mutual understanding. However, an understanding has emerged that there are no grounds right now to form a government partnership." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, AHMET DAVUTOGLU, SAYING: "It seems that the duty of appealing to the nation, again once all channels are exhausted, to ensure the permanent stability of our country, has increased greatly as a possibility. Actually when it is considered that talks for forming a government with CHP has failed, it has become the only possibility." REPORTERS LISTENING CHP LEADER KEMAL KILICDAROGLU WALKING TO PODIUM CHP OFFICIALS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) CHP LEADER, KEMAL KILICDAROGLU, SAYING: "So far, we have not received a proposal to form a coalition government. We were proposed to form a short-term government that would rule the country for three months and after three months we would go to early elections." CHP OFFICIALS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) CHP LEADER, KEMAL KILICDAROGLU, SAYING: "How can you talk about people's will when you say: 'I will not form a coalition government so I will hold a snap election.' This should have been tried. I believe that Turkey has missed an historic opportunity." CHP OFFICIALS LISTENING
- Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAA080LA3AXH3UPKH2GI85FQ38T
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Turkey faces a snap election this autumn after talks on forming a coalition government broke down on Thursday (August 13), increasing uncertainty in the NATO member state as it battles Islamic State insurgents on its borders and Kurdish militants at home.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a fresh election now appeared to be the only option after last-ditch negotiations between his Islamist-rooted AK Party and the main opposition CHP yielded no deal. He urged parliament to call for a new vote and said he would prefer it was held as soon as possible.
"We have exchanged our views in a very nice and sincere atmosphere. They have 12 years of experience as an opposition party. We have 12 years of experience as a ruling party and we decided on continuing this dialogue and mutual understanding. However, an understanding has emerged that there are no grounds right now to form a government partnership," Davutoglu told a news conference after meeting CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
"It seems that the duty of appealing to the nation, again once all channels are exhausted, to ensure the permanent stability of our country, has increased greatly as a possibility. Actually when it is considered that talks for forming a government with CHP has failed, it has become the only possibility," he added.
The news sent Turkish assets tumbling. The lira currency weakened to a record low and stocks fell as much as three percent. Many investors had hoped for a deal between the AKP and the pro-business, centre-left CHP, and fear another election will serve only to prolong instability.
The political uncertainty coincides with almost unprecedented threats to Turkey's national security.
The European Union candidate nation has been on a heightened state of alert since launching a "synchronised war on terror" last month, including air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq. It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected militants.
The AKP could now try to strike a coalition agreement with the nationalist opposition MHP, but a senior ruling party official said the chances of such a deal were "very slim" and that a snap election in November was a high probability.
The AKP failed to win a parliamentary majority in an election on June 7, leaving it unable to govern alone for the first time since it came to power in 2002.
Davutoglu has until August 23 to find a junior coalition partner or President Tayyip Erdogan, who founded the AKP, could call a snap election. The prime minister urged parliament not to leave the decision to Erdogan, suggesting he wants an agreement on a temporary government before that deadline.
The MHP has said it does not favour a coalition with the ruling party, but has hinted it could support a short-lived minority AKP government as long as it leads to a quick election.
Kilicdaroglu said there was never a real coalition proposal from the AKP and that it had only wanted either a short-term deal or support for a minority government.
"So far, we have not received a proposal to form a coalition government. We were proposed to form a short-term government that would rule the country for three months and after three months we would go to early elections," he said.
Kilicdaroglu said Turkey had missed a "historic opportunity".
"How can you talk about people's will when you say: 'I will not form a coalition government so I will hold a snap election.' This should have been tried. I believe that Turkey has missed an historic opportunity," he said.
A grand coalition between AKP and CHP would have meant bridging a gaping ideological divide.
The socially conservative AKP has its roots in Islamist politics, while the staunchly secular CHP is the party of modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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