MHP deputy refutes report of party's decision to back AK Party minority gov't

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) would support a minority government formed by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) if it agreed to hold a snap election in November, MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalçin told Reuters yesterday. However, Yalçın immediately denied the report and said his words were "twisted" by Reuters. The news agency reported Yalçın as saying that the MHP "will not support an ordinary minority government by the AK Party, but if the minority government means an election government, we would have to see the election date. We can support an AK Party minority government on the condition of holding an election in November." The AK Party is currently in talks with the Republican People's Party (CHP).

The AK Party has been in talks to try to find a coalition partner after losing its majority in the June 7 general elections for the first time since coming to power more than a decade ago. It has another three weeks to agree to a working coalition, try to govern alone or face a new election.

The fifth and final round of exploratory meetings between AK Party and Republican People's Party (CHP) delegations was held on Monday with a focus on foreign policy and Ankara's bid to join the 28-member European Union. CHP deputy chairman and spokesman, Haluk Koç, held a press meeting on behalf on the CHP team following the meeting in which he said that the party's duties are over for now and after this point the next step will depend on Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's decision. Culture Minister Ömer Çelik spoke on behalf of the AK Party team, emphasizing that the meetings with the CHP were held in a "courteous" atmosphere.

The formation of a possible coalition government will be decided by the party leaders, along with the authorized party committees, when the delegations submit their reports to their party's chairman. Interim prime minister and AK Party chairman, Ahmet Davutoğlu, and CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are to meet following the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting that concludes today. Davutoğlu and Kılıçdaroğlu are expected to meet on Thursday or Friday at the latest to finalize the coalition talks. Davutoğlu previously mentioned the AK Party will re-launch coalition negotiations with the MHP, leading some to claim that the CHP and AK Party delegations have not been able to agree to a coalition. In this regard, the fourth meeting on Saturday was the shortest meeting of all the exploratory meetings, lasting nearly three-and-a-half hours.

According to local sources, the CHP delegation urged the AK Party delegation to decide on which party it wants to form a coalition with due to recent remarks from AK Party officials signaling a possible coalition with the MHP.

After the June 7 elections an AK Party-MHP coalition was considered the most probable option due to the closeness between the parties' voters' views, but MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's harsh statements raised doubts about the coalition. Davutoğlu said in July that his party has no preconditions for coalition talks, but that they cannot open up the office of the president to debate. Davutoğlu held a press briefing at AK Party headquarters and announced that Bahçeli refused to be part of a coalition.

"MHP leader Bahçeli repeated his opinion of not being a part of a coalition government," he said. "Regardless of success in coalition talks with the CHP, we can still meet with the MHP in the second round, and in general," he added. Davutoğlu said the AK Party still stands at the same distance to all parties, and regardless of success in coalition talks with the CHP, the AK Party will still meet with the MHP to discuss the problems of the country.