According to the Bloomberg news agency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for elections earlier than scheduled in order to consolidate his one-man rule of the country. Bloomberg notes that as soon as the snap election was announced, the Turkish stock exchange market had its best day in a while, while the lira, which had plummeted to record lows against the dollar, extended gains.
After his win in last year’s referendum, Erdogan essentially stripped the Turkish prime minister of all political power and also weakened the Turkish parliament politically, making the presidency the formal seat of political power.
Erdogan claimed that the early elections were necessary due to uncertainty in Syria and Iraq, after Turkey’s involvement in the war. In his statements yesterday he asserted that due to concerns, including the need to ‘fight against the Kurdish terrorists’, the country needed to switch as quickly as possible to the executive presidential system, approved last year. The new system will come into force after the poll in June. After the election Turkey will not have a prime minister and all important issues will be taken on by the President.
