Turkey to hold elections on May 7 or 14 at the latest, AKP official says

Turkey will likely to hold early elections on May 7 or May 14 at the latest, Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Sureyya Sadi Bilgic from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said.

“If we cannot get a May date decision from the parliament, then the process will proceed with the decision of the President,” Bilgic told Ekonomim news website on Monday.

Turkey is facing presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for June, amid Turkey’s economic woes that trouble Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s public support. While AKP officials were signalling an early election in the recent months, Erdogan on Thursday confirmed his party’s plans for the first time, saying that they may bring the date of elections forward due to seasonal conditions.

Despite Erdogan’s not specifying what he meant by “seasonal conditions,” Bilgic cited them as Muslim’s religious holiday of Eid al-Adha which will start on June 28, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca which will begin on June 26, and the university entrance exams which will be held on June 17-18.

AKP’s vice chair Hamza Dag last week said there are two possible ways for an early election; “One of them is the parliament’s taking a decision with the vote of 360 deputies in the 550-seat assembly, and the other is the president’s dissolving the parliament.”

The ruling alliance (AKP-MHP) maintains 334 seats in Turkish parliament.