Baku, Azerbaijan, July 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) doesn't rule out the creation of a coalition government with Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were unexpected, since earlier, these two parties were against forming a coalition.
Davutoglu said that currently, AKP is holding talks with all political parties on creating a coalition government.
"HDP is a party which garnered 13.1 percent of votes," said Davutoglu.
The refusal of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to create a coalition government with the AKP became a signal that the prime minister's party will change its strategy on forming the Cabinet of Ministers.
All this suggests that due to the MHP's refusal, the Justice and Development Party will create a coalition with the HDP.
Although the MHP was criticizing the AKP, it was pursuing a moderate policy with respect to the authorities as distinct from the Republican People's Party. Even at the height of the events on Taksim Square in 2013, the party's supporters didn't participate in the mass protest actions like the supporters of the CHP and HDP.
The main disagreements between the AKP and MHP are related to the democratic settlement of the Kurdish problem. Namely the Kurdish problem has stalemated the creation of a perfect coalition.
Democratic settlement of the Kurdish problem is a priority for the Justice and Development Party.
Apparently, as distinct from the MHP and CHP, it is not against the democratic settlement of the Kurdish problem. There are no disagreements on Turkey's accession to the European Union either. CHP even supports all the reforms of the AKP in this sphere.
The main disagreement between the two parties is related to the country's foreign policy, in particular, Ankara's Syria policy.
Moreover, namely the Republican People's Party has always been the main rival for AKP and all the success of the government was based on the political mistakes of the republicans.
By forming a coalition government with CHP, the Justice and Development Party can lose its reputation among the people, which is inadmissible for it.
But it is worth thinking about one factor. The AKP, which has decided on its priorities (democratic settlement of the Kurdish problem) can create a coalition with CHP which is not against the settlement of the Kurdish problem. However, HDP, which is a mediator between the government and the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan plays a key role in this issue.
Taking into account the military clashes in Syria and Iraq, as well as the activity of Kurds in the region, currently, the most important task for Ankara is to resolve the Kurdish problem. No matter how Turkey tries to secure itself against the military clashes in the region, the Kurdish problem can cause spread of the conflict to Turkey's territory.
A question arises: will Turkey's policy in the region change if AKP forms a coalition with HDP? Definitely not. The HDP is not able to influence the country's foreign policy. At the same time, in the case of forming a coalition government with the HDP, AKP will have to pay more attention to domestic policy, which will be very difficult.
Edited by CN
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
