Expectations of snap election growing within Turkey's ruling partyAugust 12, 2015 - 17:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Expectations of a snap election in November are growing within Turkey's ruling AK Party, officials say, with its leadership emboldened by recent opinion polls and looking increasingly cool to the idea of a coalition government, Reuters reports. The Islamist-rooted AKP absorbed a stinging election setback in June when it lost single-party rule for the first time since taking power in 2002, taking just under 41 percent of the vote. To form a government, it now needs a junior coalition partner. However, the government may reckon it can soon recover enough votes to govern alone thanks in part, critics say, to the military campaign it launched last month against Kurdish insurgents in the southeast and in northern Iraq as well as Islamic State militants in northern Syria. The government calls this a "synchronized war on terror", Critics say the security crackdown is aimed mainly at Kurdish militants and geared to winning back nationalist votes. The AKP has been in talks with the main opposition, the secularist CHP, but progress has been slow. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who founded the AKP, is said to favor a snap election, in the hope his party could regain a clear majority. "Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whom I mandated to form the government, can take steps for an early election or to form a coalition," Erdogan said in a speech on Wednesday, Aug 12. "However, his opinions must match the opinions of the other party. It is not as if he will commit suicide if they do not match." A survey by pollster Andy-Ar on Wednesday showed AKP support had risen some two percentage points since the election two months ago to 42.8 percent. It was unclear if this would be enough to regain its exclusive hold on government. However, two other recent polls have suggested the AKP would take enough votes to return to government alone. Davutoglu is set to meet the CHP leader on Thursday for their expected final round of coalition talks but told reporters late on Tuesday an "historic announcement" should not be expected after the meeting. Erdogan also said on Tuesday the constitution did not allow for any relaxation of the Aug. 23 deadline to form a government, underlining that time was running out. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |