President Erdoğan dismisses possibility of early elections

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again dismissed reports of early elections, saying they would be held on schedule in June 2023. “An election earlier than this date is out of the question. In deep-seated democracies, you do not go to early elections whenever it flashes to your mind,” he said.

Friday January 22 2021 03:30 pm

President Erdoğan addresses reporters on Jan 22.

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has dismissed the possibility of holding early elections and said that they will take place in June 2023 as was scheduled.

“We are not in a hurry as the case is for opposition political parties. The schedule [for the elections] is June 2023,” Erdoğan said.

“An election earlier than this date is out of the question. In deep-seated democracies, you do not go to early elections whenever it flashes to your mind. Those who have dreams of 'What can we achieve' make fusses about early elections,” he said on Jan. 22.

Turkey's opposition parties have been calling for early elections for some time now. They have in several instances indicated the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) can no longer govern the country and there is a need for a change in political climate to fix Turkey's economic problems.

'Turkey, Iraq might conduct op against PKK in Sinjar all of a sudden'

Erdoğan also commented on the possibility of Turkey conducting a joint operation together with Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Sinjar region and said such a possibility is always on the table.

“We are always ready to conduct joint operations but the date of such operations are not exposed. I have been always saying, 'We can come there all of a sudden one night,'” he said.

Earlier this week, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler visited Iraq to hold a series of meetings, especially with regards to the PKK's presence on Iraqi soil.

The PKK is viewed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Turkey gives a priority to clear the PKK from Iraq's Sinjar as the group is said to be using the region as a new headquarters to be an alternative to the Qandil mountains.

In October, Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in coordination with the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, paved the way for reconstruction in the Sinjar region, by striking a deal.

The agreement calls for the removal of armed groups in the region, including the PKK and Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) forces.