- Title: TURKEY-POLITICS/TALKS Turkey's PM starts talks to form a coalition government
- Date: 13th July 2015
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (JULY 13, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, AHMET DAVUTOGLU, GETTING OUT OF CAR, SHAKING HANDS WITH PEOPLE'S REPUBLICAN PARTY (CHP) OFFICIAL AND WALKING INSIDE DAVUTOGLU SHAKING HANDS WITH MAIN OPPOSITION, CHP LEADER, KEMAL KILICDAROGLU CHP OFFICIALS SITTING DAVUTOGLU AND KILICDAROGLU SHAKING HANDS AN
- Embargoed: 28th July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAACLRCDQPFMXMSPVGKPIMC9BOY
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu started the first round of coalition talks on Monday (July 13) with Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the secularist opposition CHP.
Davutoglu said the meeting was positive.
"Turkey cannot tolerate even a minute without a government. I told him (CHP leader) that we want to have a strong government based on mutual trust. He also expressed his views similar to this perspective and stressed the importance of maintaining mutual trust and a strong government" he said.
"We are standing at an equal distance to both CHP and MHP (Nationalist Movement Party). Talks with CHP have been positive. Talks were held in a positive atmosphere. I hope that talks with MHP Leader (Devlet) Bahceli will also be held in a good atmosphere. After all, we are all here to serve the people and if we respect each other while serving this nation, people will confide in us," he told journalists after the meeting.
The AK Party, which President Tayyip Erdogan founded, lost its parliamentary majority in a June 7 election for the first time since it came to power in 2002, forcing it to seek a junior coalition partner or face the prospect of a fresh election.
Despite a constitutional ban on the head of state engaging in party politics, Erdogan turned the vote into a referendum on his own ambitions of forging an executive presidency, campaigning for constitutional change.
The outcome frustrated those ambitions, at least for now, and plunged Turkey into political uncertainty not seen since the unstable coalition governments of the 1990s.
Opposition parties have made clear they want Erdogan to keep out of daily politics if they take part in any coalition government.
A deal with the Islamist-rooted AKP would mean bridging a wide ideological divide.
Davutoglu indicated that the negotiations would be difficult, expressing concern about Kilicdaroglu's recent comments to reporters that he may not serve in cabinet even if an agreement was reached.
The AK Party won 258 seats in the June 7 election, ahead of the CHP with 132 seats, while the nationalist MHP and pro-Kurdish HDP won 80 seats each. Davutoglu was due to meet the MHP leader on Tuesday and HDP leaders on Wednesday.
The Hurriyet daily reported Davutoglu as saying that if coalition talks were unsuccessful there would be early elections, from which the AKP would benefit the most. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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