Turkey's new government wins parliamentary vote of confidence

The government of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu won a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday, after attaining 49.5 percent of the votes in the November 1 general elections.

Turkey's 64th government got 315 votes in favor and 194 against in Monday's confidence vote.

Following the vote of confidence, Davutoğlu went up to the parliamentary rostrum to give a thank you speech. He said, "We received 49.5 percent of the votes, but as of now we are the government of the whole nation."

"The representation of the opposition in parliament is a right as important as that of the ruling party. We will show respect to them [the opposition] being represented in the parliament.

The prime minister has also called onto all of the opposition parties, saying: "Criticism is your utmost right. Let us all show tolerance even to the most contradictory opinions."

Davutoğlu has asked from all parties in the parliament to conduct their criticism in "courtesy." He said that every party,including the Justice and Development (AK) Party, should bring their opinions to the table in an emphatic manner.

The government will also look at things from the opposition's perspective when bringing forth any legislative proposals, Davutoğlu said. But, he also requested that the opposition 'empathized' with the government in critical situations.

The Justice and Development (AK) Party received 49.5 percent of the votes in Nov. 1 general elections, gaining 317 seats in the parliament, while the Republican People's Party (CHP) received 137 seats, followed by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with 59 seats and the Nationalist Movement Party with 40 seats.

Following the June 7 elections in which the AK Party garnered 40.8 percent of the vote and failed to receive a parliamentary majority with 258 deputies, the parties failed to come to an agreement to form a coalition, leading Turkey to an early election on Nov. 1.