... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...called on Wednesday for snap elections for June 24 in a move aimed at accelerating the transition to a new presidential system.
The announcement upended the political timetable in
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire....
, which had been set to vote in simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections on November 3, 2019.
Erdogan made the announcement in an address at his presidential palace after meeting Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli who the day earlier had urged early elections.
"As a result of consultations with Mr. Bahceli, we decided to hold elections on June 24, 2018, a Sunday," said Erdogan.
Bahceli stunned
The elections are especially significant as afterwards a new executive presidency -- agreed in a 2017 referendum and denounced by critics as giving the president authoritarian powers -- will come into force.