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Turkey might hold presidential and parliamentary elections on 14 May, although the actual date is still to be decided, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group chair Özlem Zengin said on Sunday.
Zengin’s comments on possible election dates followed a meeting last week between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his far-right ally Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). According to reports in the Turkish media, the two allies discussed possible dates for early elections which is normally scheduled for 18 June.
Zengin dismissed reports in the media about 30 April as the date of the elections, but left the door open for 14 May.
“We still have time, there are things we should do in January, February. There is no inconvenience in having them on 18 June,” Zengin said.
Despite Erdoğan’s and Bahçeli’s repeated announcements ruling out early polls, the possibility of snap elections have been discussed in Turkey for almost two years.
There is also an ongoing debate on whether the Turkish constitution allows Erdoğan to run for presidential elections, if polls are held in June. Many experts in Turkey have been underlining that elections should be held earlier for Erdoğan to be nominated for the presidential seat.
The AKP-MHP coalition does not have the 360 parliamentary seats required for changing the election date. Since the opposition parties have announced 6 April as their deadline for any early election date, it is likely that Erdoğan will announce the decision for early elections if they will be held at a date after 6 April and before 18 June.
