ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he has decided to take his country to re-election, probably in November, following inconclusive polls in June in which no party won seats enough to form a government and attempts at coalitions failed.
Davutoglu (left) and Erdogan at the presidential palace on Tuesday. Photo: BBC

After an early meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan said the premier had been appointed to put together an interim government.

"Despite contacts with all political parties, a cabinet of ministers could not be formed and it became clear that it was not possible to do so under current conditions,” Erdogan said after a meeting Monday with Parliament Speaker İsmet Yılmaz, that lasted more than four hours and reportedly went late into the night.

“As such, a necessity to renew the election has appeared," the Hurriyet Daily quoted the president as saying in a statement.

Although no official date has been declared for the re-election, Erdogan has indicated November 1 as the likely time. Constitutionally, a provisional government must be formed five days after a re-election is announced officially and in writing, which has not happened yet.

Of the main parties with the largest wins in June, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have both ruled out participation with the AKP in an interim government, calling it an “indecent” proposal.

That leaves the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) as the only parliamentary partner for the AKP. But ties are severely strained between the two, since Ankara re-ignited a war with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in late July.

The last election was a setback for Erdogan, who wanted the staunchly loyal AKP to win enough seats to change the constitution in his favor: Erdogan wants the president to be head of government and have unprecedented powers.

But the AKP failed to win the number needed and HDP, which became the first pro-Kurdish party in Turkish history to win enough votes to sit in parliament, vowed it would stand against Erdogan’s plans to consolidate greater power.

After the election results, Erdogan declared a war on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), ordering air raids against their bases in northern Iraq and Turkey and accusing the HDP of backing a terrorist organization.

Against this backdrop of violence, the next election is expected to take place in a tense atmosphere.

Rudaw