Don’t leave me in the hands of Bahçeli, Kılıçdaroğlu: Turkish PM

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has asked his supporters to bring his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to single party rule again in Nov. 1 general elections, asking them “not to make me obliged” to meet opposition leader Devlet Bahçeli and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for coalition talks.

“Don’t leave me in the hands of Bahçeli and Kılıçdaroğlu,” said Davutoğlu, addressing AKP supporters in Istanbul’s Yenikapı neighborhood on the European side in a rally on Oct. 25. After the June 7 general elections, none of the four parties managed to obtain enough votes to form a single-party government. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave the mandate and hence the role to form a coalition government to Davutoğlu, who held meetings with the Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) Bahçeli and the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Kılıçdaroğlu for a possible coalition government. Referring to his meetings with the opposition party leaders, the prime minister asked his supporters to increase his votes so that he could form a single party government.