AK Party, CHP accelerate coalition talks


As the third round of coalition talks draws to a close, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Republican People's Party (CHP) reached an agreement on financial issues in Thursday's talks and decided to hold another meeting in Parliament at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.The meeting in the Ankara Palace State Guest House lasted seven hours and 40 minutes, making it the longest coalition meeting so far. The delegation head, CHP Deputy Chairman and Haluk Koç, made a statement to the press following the meeting, saying that the CHP and the AK Party have the same understanding on the necessary structural reforms. Talking after Koç, Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik of the AK Party also said that among all the discussed topics they were especially meticulous about fiscal discipline.Representing the AK Party, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş, Culture and Tourism Minister Çelik, Minister of Development Cevdet Yılmaz and deputies Osman Can, Taha Özhan, Mücahit Arslan and the former Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister and AK Party Antalya Deputy Lütfi Elvan For the CHP, Koç, Selin Sayek Böke, Faik Öztrak, Bülent Tezcan, Istanbul Deputy Akif Hamzaçebi and the adviser of the chairman Rasim Bölücek attended the meeting.Both parties' committees had previously held talks on July 24 and July 28 coordinated by Çelik and Koç.