MHP back in talks to form government


Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Republican People's Party (CHP) delegations met for the third time on Thursday in Ankara, and although the officials from the two parties have reached a mutual understanding on some topics, Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik of the AK Party said that no agreement can be reached until the last point is agreed on. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, speaking at the AK Party's extended meeting for the party's provincial chairmen on Thursday, said the party will re-launch coalition negotiations with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), whose Chairman Devlet Bahçeli has reversed his previous objections to joining a coalition government.MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli said if the conditions that they set are agreed on then his party will provide full support for a coalition government with the AK Party. EU Minister Volkan Bozkır also told media members on Friday that the coalition can be formed between the AK Party and the MHP if negotiations fail with the CHP.The AK Party and CHP delegations are to meet on Saturday at Parliament, and the two parties' officials are to meet for the last time on Monday. Following Thursday's eight-hour meeting, CHP Deputy Chairman Haluk Koç, delegation head, made a statement to the press following the meeting, saying that the CHP and AK party have a mutual understanding on most of the structural reforms. Additionally to Koç's statements, Çelik said that though a mutual understanding has been reached with the CHP, he said that no agreement can be made without discussing the results with the party leaders and the necessary organizations of the parties. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute's (TurkStat) calculations, the average period for establishing a coalition government is 56 days. The current coalition negotiations are entering the 53rd day. However, it has been reported that during the CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting, party members were discouraged by the lack of progress of the coalition negotiations. The current progress of the coalition talks, as well as the party leaders' statements, has led to the discussion of a possible coalition between the AK Party and the MHP.Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu paid a visit to the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, Masoud Barzani, on Wednesday in Irbil and reportedly said that the continuing of the reconciliation process is meaningless without the PKK laying down arms. Bahçeli said his party will form a coalition with the AK Party with the reconciliation process halted. Bahçeli, speaking at the MHP's Provincial Consultation Meeting on Thursday, said that the MHP will provide full support for an AK Party-MHP coalition if the reconciliation process is halted, along with other demands. It has previously been reported that the MHP demanded nine ministries including, the Justice Ministry, Interior Ministry, Education Ministry and Foreign Ministry, during the first round of coalition meetings.