Turkish PM Erdogan rolls up sleeves for new term

Having clinched a landslide victory Sunday, winning the votes of half the 50 million-strong electorate, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is already setting to work on its post-election priorities.

The party’s immediate itinerary includes the speedy establishment of a new Cabinet, launching the process of rewriting the Constitution and catching up with regional developments, especially those in the unrest-hit Middle East and North Africa, following a period of intense domestic focus.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will roll up his sleeves to set up his working team, both in the Cabinet and in his party. According to the draft timeline, Erdoğan plans to finalize the procedure to form his new government in the first week of July. On June 26, President Abdullah Gül is expected to give Erdoğan the mandate to form the government. The prime minister is expected to announce his ministers in the coming days, but will take a few days off before starting the process.

Another important task facing the prime minister is to set suitable conditions for his party’s efforts to amend the entire Constitution, a project Erdoğan addressed in his call to all political parties, in particular the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, directly after his election victory.

"We increased our votes but the number of [AKP] deputies is below 330. As the ruling party, it is our responsibility to knock on the doors of the main opposition. I will knock on the door of [CHP leader] Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu," Erdoğan told daily Milliyet right after his "balcony speech" Sunday night, in which he likewise vowed to seek consensus from all segments of society on the new constitution.

The prime minister made his speech after his party secured its third consecutive term in power with 49.9 percent of the votes. The AKP failed, however, to secure the 330 parliamentary seats it would have needed to take a charter change to a referendum on its own, falling just four seats short of that threshold.

Calls for compromise

"Our job is to invite them [the opposition] to compromise and contribute [to the process]. Mr. Kemal [Kılıçdaroğlu] had some statements and approaches. They said they would join the process and contribute. We expect Mr. Kemal to contribute," Erdoğan said.

Addressing the public at his party’s headquarters late Sunday after the election victory, Erdoğan likewise said the AKP would not close its doors and would seek dialogue with the opposition over the constitution.

The penning of the new charter is already provoking both methodological discussions and equally important debates on how a mass consensus could be reached on its content. One of the most controversial topics is expected to be Erdoğan’s ambitions to shift the country’s administrative system to a presidential one, something not only the opposition parties but also President Abdullah Gül and some of his closest aides oppose.

Asked whether the 50 percent vote for the AKP would facilitate the process of adopting a presidential system, Erdoğan also said he wanted the issue to be publicly discussed.

"I wanted Turkey to discuss the issue. Turkey is already discussing it. But Kılıçdaroğlu has a different approach on the issue. He is describing a presidential system in which he says there will be no Parliament. But it is opposite; there is a very strong Parliament and parliamentary supervision in the presidential system," Erdoğan said.

Foreign policy back on the agenda

Erdoğan’s immediate agenda also includes foreign-policy developments, particularly the revolts against authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, including neighboring Syria. The prime minister is expected to call Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in the coming days to express his disappointment over the bloody crackdown on protesters that has caused a massive influx of people over the Turkish border.

The prime minister will also soon pay a visit to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to discuss both energy issues and Turkey’s disrupted reconciliation process with Armenia.


/Hurriyet Daily News/