Turkish PM to start coalition talks with CHP

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said he will start holding official coalition talks with Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on July 13. 

“We plan to hold talks with the CHP on Monday [July 13], with the MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] on Tuesday [July 14], and with the HDP [Peoples’ Democratic Party] on Wednesday [July 15],” Davutoğlu told a press conference at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport ahead of a visit to Bosnia on July 10. 

The statement came a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally gave him the mandate to form a new government.

Meanwhile, in a written statement CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu said he would meet Davutoglu at the CHP party headquarters on July 13 at 2 p.m. local time.

The prime minister said the schedule would become clear according to the parties’ own schedules. “It is possible to have a time shift. What is important for us is to make a mutual will clear and to start from a stable base,” he added.

“I retain my belief in the possibility of forming a stable coalition, so long as a calm and prudent attitude on this issue is adopted and so long as emotional reactions and impulsive manners are avoided,” Davutoğlu also said.

The prime minister has 45 days to form a government around the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which lost its 13-year parliamentary majority in the June 7 general election but remained the largest party. 

It now must attempt to forge a coalition with any one of the three other parliamentary parties. If no coalition government can be formed, Turkey will have to go to early elections. 

After over a month of procrastination, Davutoğlu said they would try to form a new government “as soon as possible.” 

“We have consulted with the party’s board, organization and grassroots. The possibility of a coalition with the MHP or the CHP appeared as a result of these consultations. In this regard, we will talk with all three parties but we will concentrate on these two parties and try to get result,” he added.

Responding to Kılıçdaroğlu’s recent remarks that criticized Davutoğlu for making appointments in public institutions despite heading an “interim government,” the prime minister vowed that “no unnecessary appointment has been made.” He also said if there were unnecessary appointments they could be reversed once a coalition government is formed.