The silence from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been deafening since the AK party lost its majority rule on Sunday. Erdogan who had been seen on the Turkish television, often three times a day, remained uncharacteristically silent since the election results.
However, today he made his first speech and called on all parties to act responsibly, in order to form a coalition government.
The president met Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on 8th June and held a surprise meeting with the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) most senior deputy-elect, Deniz Baykal, on 10th June, but he has, up to now, has remained silent apart from issuing short written statements.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Ankara he said:
“God willing, those who dream of chaos in Turkey will be disappointed.” Erdogan added that he found the Western media’s criticism of him before the elections “ugly”. “This means, thank God, we are on the right path,” he said.
“Everyone must respect the will of the people,” inviting all political parties to act responsibly to preserve stability and to continue investments.
“My responsibility as Turkey’s first popularly elected president is even bigger and I know this,” Erdogan said, stressing that the new parliamentary redistribution of seats “does not mean that Turkey will remain without a government.”
Switching to domestic politics, he said “Egos should be set aside and a [coalition] government should be formed as soon as possible.”
Erdogan criticised the “global system” for causing the income gap between international students’ countries. He also slammed the West for destabilising Syria by “supporting” the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate the PYD.
Hurriyet
