Early Turkish elections bill submitted to parliament

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA

The bill on holding early elections on June 24 was submitted to the office of Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman on Wednesday.

The bill bears the signature of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli.

The draft bill will be debated in the parliament's constitutional committee on April 20.

Parliament's general assembly is expected to debate the bill on April 20 and 21.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier on Wednesday announced plans to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, over a year before they had initially been scheduled, in November 2019.

The announcement came after Bahceli -- whose party is set to enter elections in an alliance with the Justice and Development (AK) Party -- called for early elections.

Announcing the decision, Erdogan said: “Turkey’s cross-border operation in Syria, and the situation in both Syria and Iraq, obliged Turkey to overcome uncertainties as soon as possible.”

He added: "At a time when developments in Syria accelerated, and we have to take very important decisions, from macroeconomic equilibrium to large investments, the election issue should be taken off the table as soon as possible."