New gov't program to be announced in Turkish Parliament


After President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave prospective prime minister Binali Yıldırım, the newly appointed chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), a mandate to form a new government late on Sunday, following the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, the schedule of the formation of the 65th government has been reported by political circles in Ankara. The program for the 65th government will be read in Parliament on Tuesday, May 24. Following the announcement of the new government program, a vote of confidence is expected for Sunday, May 29.Once the 65th government program is introduced to Parliament, discussions of the program are expected to last for two days, during which opposition political parties can express their feedback on the program until Friday May 27. Though opposition political parties will not be able to introduce legislation or discuss topics other than the 65th government's program throughout the week, the parties will still be holding parliamentary group meetings. The AK Party, which has not held parliamentary group meetings during the last two weeks, is expected to meet again on Tuesday.The 65th government, which will be established under the newly elected chairman Yıldırım, is expected to focus on establishing a new constitution and the introduction of a presidential system.Furthermore, Turkey's ongoing struggle against terrorism is expected to be another priority on the agenda of the new government, as in Yıldırım's speech during the convention he vowed to continue the fight against the DAESH and PKK terrorist organizations, as well as tackle the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria. Yıldırım said that the change in government leadership will not alter Turkey's combat against terrorist groups: "Our counter-terrorism operations will continue without interruption, until the bloody-handed PKK terrorist organization ends its armed activities. We will clear Turkey's agenda of this terror plague." Finally, Turkey-EU relations, especially in the scope of recent debates on visa liberalization, are to expect to be on the agenda for the new government.