Credit
Kayhan Ozer/Presidency Press Service, via Associated Press
ISTANBUL — In a surprising announcement on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey called elections for June 24, a year and a half earlier than had been expected.
Mr. Erdogan’s announcement came after discussions with Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, the main nationalist group, who had called a day earlier for elections to be held well in advance of their originally scheduled date, in November 2019.
“Although its seems like no serious issues emerge as the president and the government are working in harmony, the illnesses of the old system can counter us at every step,” said Mr. Erdogan, who maintained power after an attempted coup in 2016 failed to remove him, in a speech that was broadcast live on television.
“But with the cross-border operations we maintain in Syria, and also historical events happening in the area centered around Syria and Iraq, it became a must for Turkey to climb over the uncertainty as soon as possible,” he added, “for our country to make decisions about the future more strongly and apply them, passing to the new governmental system becomes urgent.”
Turkey is in the process of making the transition from a primarily parliamentary system to one that would give the president increased executive authority after the election.
The early elections would be both for president and Parliament.
Source : Nytimes
