Erhürman: CTP cannot be a partner in a structure that it does not see as legitimate

A new round of efforts was launched on Thursday to form a new coalition government.

President Ersin Tatar received the leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party Tufan Erhürman on Friday morning.

He will be meeting with representatives of the National Unity Party (UBP) at 2pm.

Earlier on Thursday Tatar met with representatives and party leaders from the Rebirth Party (YDP), the Peoples’ Party (HP) and the Democrat Party (DP).

The CTP leader Tufan Erhürman told reporters after his meeting with Tatar that it would be absurd for the president to hand the task of forming the government to the National Unity Party for a third time, particularly after all the developments that had taken place.

“This would neither benefit the country nor the country’s democracy,” he said, adding that his party would be ready to form a new government of consensus if the task was handed to them.

“However, we will not be part of any process that would bring us back to where we started, that is a coalition between the UBP, YDP and DP. Our position is clear. We are ready to take on the task of forming a new government on the condition that the president acknowledges the fact that it is no longer possible for the UBP leader Faiz Sucuoğlu or any other MP from the UBP to form a government. Though legal such an attempt would not be legitimate,” he said.

Erhürman added that should he fail, the president should call for early elections.