CHP-AKP leaders to meet as coalition deadline looms

ANKARA

CİHAN photo

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will hold a key meeting for coalition negotiations on Aug. 10 in light of the results of preliminary talks, Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik said.

The meeting will take place two weeks before the deadline for forming a government, Aug. 23. The president can then call for an early election if a government cannot be formed within 45 days after the prime minister receives the official mandate from president.

The minister’s statement came Aug. 6, after a meeting with Davutoğlu and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) delegation that conducted several exploratory coalition meetings with the CHP. The delegation presented an assessment report with three frameworks, Çelik told reporters after the meeting.

The report included issues agreed upon with the CHP, along with issues of differentiation and topics that party leaders will discuss in their bilateral meeting, Çelik said. 

Issues concerning AKP policies would be discussed at a Central Executive Committee (MYK) meeting on Aug. 7, the minister said, noting issues concerning government policies would be discussed at a cabinet meeting this month.

The AKP and CHP leaders will meet after the cabinet meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Aug. 10, as Kılıçdaroğlu welcomed the invitation delivered by Davutoğlu, Çelik noted.  

The party leaders will meet with the attendance of Haluk Koç from the CHP and Çelik from the AKP, the minister added.

However, the meeting of the CHP and AKP leaders cannot be considered as a “final” meeting, Çelik also said.

Delegations from the AKP and CHP concluded exploratory talks in which they examined each other’s lines on main political issues in a bid to see whether there is ground for the formation of a shared government. The two parties’ delegations separately submitted reports to their leaders for their final decision on the fate of what many call a grand coalition.

The AKP has come to a positive phase in their coalition talks with the CHP but will not hesitate to knock on the door of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) if the talks fail, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said on Aug. 3. 

Meanwhile, the CHP plans to hold a meeting with its party parliamentarian group on Aug. 12.