A group of officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) visited Müsavat Dervişoğlu, the newly elected head of the opposition Good Party (IP), on Thursday. The meeting at the Parliament was attended by prominent AK Party members, including group deputy chairperson Mustafa Elitaş and group chair Abdullah Güler.
IP replaced founding chair Meral Akşener with Dervişoğlu after losses in the March 31 municipal elections. The same election also cost the AK Party several mayoral seats, with the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), a former ally of IP, emerging victorious.
The party seeks compromise with the opposition in a bid to draft a new constitution to replace the coup-era constitution. Though this issue was not brought up at Thursday’s meeting, according to the officials, Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has visited the opposition parties to seek a way forward to draft a new constitution.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who met CHP leader Özgür Özel in the aftermath of the local elections in a landmark meeting, signaled on Wednesday that he may also hold talks with Dervişoğlu. Dervişoğlu told reporters after the talks that they did not discuss any meeting with the president at Thursday’s discussions.
Güler told reporters that they congratulated Dervişoğlu on his victory in the election for the top post of IP. He noted that Dervişoğlu has been a colleague of his for a long time at the Parliament and he hoped to continue their cooperation and dialogue with IP under this leadership.
Dervişoğlu said he was pleased with the visit, and they mainly discussed the work of the Parliament. Answering questions about the content of the talks, Dervişoğlu said the issue of stray dogs was among them. “This is a very sensitive topic,” he said. The AK Party prepared a draft law to resolve the issue of stray dogs involved in attacks against people.
President Erdoğan highlighted the issue in a speech on Wednesday and said they hoped no further steps would be required to resolve the problem. “Steps” he referred to include euthanasia for feral dogs. Dervişoğlu said all parties should join forces to resolve this social issue.
