AKP has no red lines in forming coalition government: Turkish premier
Turkey’s ruling party sees no "red lines" in talking with the opposition parties on forming a coalition government, the Turkish premier says.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a live interview with state television on Wednesday that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) would seek to form a coalition government, but warned that if talks failed, AKP would consider every possible option, even holding early elections.
“Only the AKP will lead the coalition talks but if others block the road, we will think of every option,” he said.
"I will sincerely meet with every opposition party" that won seats in parliament, Davutoglu said, adding, "We have no red lines."
"We always said a coalition is not the best option but if the people make such a choice, what falls on us is to make the best of it," he stated.
According to Turkish media reports, the AKP had earlier set three red lines for other parties as a precondition to form a possible coalition government.
One of the conditions reportedly drafted by the party was that the other three parties have to accept Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan’s “position and legitimacy as a president elected by a popular vote of 52 percent."
Another condition was related to continuing with the “settlement process” -- launched by the AKP in 2012 -- which addresses the decades-old Kurdish issue in the country's southeast.
And the other condition put forth by the party was fighting against the "parallel state,” Erdogan’s term for the supporters of the transnational religious and social movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen.
He also described securing the largest share of the ballots as a “success,” and noted that his party would conduct a survey to find out the causes of its failure and to know what kind of coalition its voters sought.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Erdogan held a surprise meeting with Deniz Baykal of the Republican People's Party (CHP) as part of purported efforts to form a coalition government.
During the June 7 parliamentary election, the AKP lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since coming to power in 2002.
Erdogan’s AKP won 258 seats -- 18 seats short of the minimum required to rule alone -- in the 550-seat parliament, the CHP garnered 132, and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) gained 80 each.
RS/AS/MHB
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