Turkey’s AKP in search of consensus on new charter: PM
The leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) says he is looking forward to meeting with the heads of the main opposition groups to discuss changes in the constitution.
Binali Yildirim, who also serves as Turkey’s prime minister, said Wednesday that a “compromise” between the AKP and the main opposition and nationalist opposition parties could facilitate constitutional changes proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Yildirim, who was speaking to journalists outside the AKP headquarters in Ankara, said he might meet key figures in the opposition hoping that he could the compromise.
The AK Party, which currently has 316 seats in parliament, needs the support of opposition to approve the changes. A minimum of 367 lawmakers in the 550-seat assembly must endorse those changes in order to turn into law.
Erdogan’s years-long campaign for a new constitution has prompted concerns among the opponents and the nationalists as executive presidency is a major aspect of his proposed charter.
Many fear Turkey’s move toward a presidential system could push the country into an autocracy under Erdogan, who has defended the changes, saying Turkey would become more powerful under a US-style presidential system.
Yildirim also commented on the increasing gap between Turkey and the United States over Kurdish fighters in Syria, saying Ankara still sees the YPG fighters as terrorists who are linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Washington has seen the YPG as a major ally in the purported fight against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the north and east of Syria.
The Turkish military started a campaign into the Syrian territory last month with the alleged goal of fighting Daesh and containing Kurdish militants. The operation has faced criticism, especially from the US, which says Ankara is more busy fighting Kurds than the Takfiri militants.
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