Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader and newly re-elected MP Deniz Baykal (L) meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the foreign minister’s residence on June 10, 2015 in Ankara as Turkey’s political forces weigh up coalition options after legislative elections. (AFP Photo/HO/Presidential Press Office/Kayhan Ozer)
Ankara, Reuters—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appears open to all coalition possibilities after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority in weekend polls, according to a senior opposition lawmaker who met with him on Wednesday.
Deniz Baykal, who headed the secular opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) until 2010, also told reporters after a two-hour meeting with Erdoğan that the president understood the importance of forming a government quickly.
“I got the impression that he is open to all coalition solutions. I have the impression that he will have a positive approach to all models in this sense,” Baykal told reporters.
Baykal is the oldest member of parliament and as such will lead its first session when it reopens following Sunday’s election. He was meeting with Erdoğan to discuss the reopening.
The parliamentary polls ended more than a decade of single-party rule by the AKP, dealt a blow to Erdoğan’s ambitions for a US-style presidency, and plunged Turkey into political uncertainty not seen since the 1990s.
The AKP’s top brass held a third day of meetings on Wednesday to consider its options and will either seek to form a coalition government with a junior opposition partner, or attempt to rule as a minority government.