Turkey faces autumn election after coalition talks fail
 

Turkey faces autumn election after coalition talks fail
http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/t...=f&x=454&y=257Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a fresh election **w appeared to be the only option after last-ditch negotiations between his Islamist-rooted AK Party and the main opposition CHP yielded ** deal. He urged parliament to call for a new vote and said he would prefer it was held as soon as possible. "The likelihood of going to (elections) has increased. In fact, it has become the only option," Davutoglu said after the talks that lasted less than two hours. He did **t say when the elections could be held but said a date should be set "at the closest time possible". The news sent Turkish assets tumbling. The lira currency weakened to a record low and stocks fell as much as three percent. Many investors had hoped for a deal between the AKP and the pro-business, centre-left CHP, and fear a**ther election will serve only to prolong instability. "From a sentiment standpoint, Turkey needs a snap election right **w like it needs a hole in the head," said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London. Huge threats to Turkey's national security The political uncertainty coincides with almost unprecedented threats to Turkey's national security. The European Union candidate nation has been on a heightened state of alert since launching a "synchronised war on terror" last month, including air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in **rthern Iraq. It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected militants. The AKP could **w try to strike a coalition agreement with the nationalist opposition MHP, but a senior ruling party official said the chances of such a deal were "very slim" and that a snap election in **vember was a high probability. The AKP failed to win a parliamentary majority in an election on June 7, leaving it unable to govern alone for the first time since it came to power in 2002. Davutoglu has until Aug. 23 to find a junior coalition partner or President Tayyip Erdogan, who founded the AKP, could call a snap election. The prime minister urged parliament **t to leave the decision to Erdogan, suggesting he wants an agreement on a temporary government before that deadline. The MHP has said it does **t favour a coalition with the ruling party, but has hinted it could support a short-lived mi**rity AKP government as long as it leads to a quick election. Blame game Erdogan has made it clear that he favours a single-party government and has made ** secret of his ambition to change the constitution and create an executive presidency, virtually impossible without a strong AKP majority. Davutoglu said, however, the perception that Erdogan had been against a coalition deal was "completely false". Major areas of policy disagreement had emerged during the negotiations with the CHP, he said, with education and foreign policy among the most contentious issues. The AKP had also backed the idea of a "reform-oriented" short-term government to take the country to an early election, while the CHP had been pushing for a long-term coalition agreement, Davutoglu said. Kilicdaroglu said there was never a real coalition proposal from the AKP and that it had only wanted either a short-term deal or support for a mi**rity government. Turkey had missed a "historic opportunity", he said, adding that it was "**t moral" for Davutoglu to **w retain the mandate to form a government. A grand coalition between AKP and CHP would have meant bridging a gaping ideological divide. The socially conservative AKP has its roots in Islamist politics, while the staunchly secular CHP is the party of modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. (FRANCE 24 with AP, REUTERS)