Erdogan sets early elections for June
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called early elections for June, meaning that a new political system that would allow him to consolidate powers would take effect a year earlier than scheduled.
After a meeting with Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s main nationalist party, Erdogan announced that the presidential and parliamentary elections originally scheduled for November 2019 will now be held June 24.
He said the new system needs to be implemented quickly to deal with numerous challenges ahead, including Turkey’s fight against Kurdish insurgents in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey, after a narrowly approved referendum last year, is switching from a parliamentary system to a presidential system that abolishes the office of the prime minister and decreases the powers of the parliament. The changes, which critics say will further reduce checks and balances, will take effect with the next elections.
The snap elections were called a day after Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party and an Erdogan ally, made a surprise call for an early election in the summer.
Erdogan, who has moved to further tighten his grip on power since a failed coup attempt in 2016, needs a 51 percent majority to be re-elected in the first round of the presidential election. Earlier this year, his ruling conservative, Islamic-rooted Justice and Development party formed an election alliance with Bahceli’s Nationalist Movement Party.