No preconditions for coalition: Turkish PM

ISTANBUL

AP Photo

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is heading into the coalition government formation process with no preconditions nor prejudices.

“We have neither prejudices nor preconditions [for a coalition government]. We are ready to discuss all options a government formation process necessitates,” the Turkish prime minister said, in a speech he delivered at an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner organized by the AKP’s Istanbul Provincial Directorate in the city’s Yenikapı neighborhood late July 12.

Davutoğlu said he would discuss all options, suggestions and opinions with other party leaders with mutual understanding, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 12.

“I hope that we can establish a new government at the earliest, and in a way that would satisfy everybody in the country. Our only purpose is to form this government through mutual understanding, and without wasting any time,” he said.

Davutoğlu was set to hold the first coalition negotiation talks with Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on July 13, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commissioned and authorized him to form a government on July 9.

Following the first coalition negotiation talks with the CHP leader, Davutoğlu is expected to meet Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on July 14 and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ on July 15 in a bid to complete the first round of coalition talks.