President Erdoğan meets nationalist party leader

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 17 met with the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at the presidential palace.

Erdoğan was expected to inform the MHP leader about the recent military operations into northern Iraq, Operation Claw-Tiger and Operation Claw-Eagle, along with recent developments in Libya.

The two politicians were also expected to exchange views on the parliamentary work and the elections to be held for parliament speaker’s office.

Current Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop will fulfill his two-year term in June with a chance to be re-elected for three more years if he gets elected for a second term. The elections will take place between July 2 and July 12. According to the legislation, a law for the Presidency of the Assembly allows two elections in a five-year legislative term. The first elected has two years, if elected for the second term he has three years.

The AKP and the MHP are mulling introducing a set of new amendments regarding some key laws, namely the Law on Political Parties, the Election Law and Law on Political Ethics, considered a move to prevent the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) from lending their MPs to new political parties so they can run in upcoming elections.

The AKP is also working on a draft bill to overhaul the structures and regulations of bar associations.