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| The Grand Turk |
| Turkish Prime Minister: No debate on presidency in coalition talks |
| 2015-06-17 |
| [EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's prime minister said on Tuesday he would not tolerate any attempt to undermine President Tayyip Erdogan's authority during the AK Party's talks to form a coalition government. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said his ruling AK Party, which lost its overall majority for the first time in 13 years in June 7 elections, would exhaust all options to form a government before it would consider an early election. But such negotiations would not include a debate on the role of the presidency, Davutoglu said, which may give pause to opposition parties concerned about Erdogan's outsize political influence. "Anything that targets the presidency or the president also targets us," Davutoglu said in a televised speech. "We will not allow the legitimacy of our president to be questioned and secondly, we will not allow the title of the presidency to be harmed." Erdogan stepped down as prime minister last year and assumed the presidency with the aim of transforming a largely figurehead position into a powerful executive post. Over the last year, he has played an active role in government that his opponents say violates the constitution. |
| Posted by:Fred |