ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party leader had gone too far by saying they would not let Recep Tayyip Erdogan be head of state in a presidential system.
Addressing a weekly parliamentary meeting of his party Tuesday, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, Selahattin Demirtas said: "Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, you will not be the president (in a presidential system) as long as HDP exists and as long as HDP members breathe on this land."
"It is a new example of insolence and disrespect to democracy," Davutoglu wrote in response, on his official Twitter account Tuesday afternoon.
"It is only up to our noble people to decide on the presidency of Erdogan," he said.
During his remarks, Demirtas also addressed the fact that his party would not be swayed into voting for a presidential system.
"We are not a bargaining party or movement," he said. "There has never been dirty bargaining between AK (Justice and Development) Party and HDP and there will never be."
Davutoglu's AK Party does not have enough seats in parliament to vote for a constitutional change.
According to the current Turkish constitution, such a change requires the approval of two thirds (367) of the (550) lawmakers. Only then can the president approve it or hold a referendum on the matter. The AK Party currently has 312 seats.
Davutoglu replied to Demirtas that his party had only ever relied on "the favor of the Turkish people."
"How would he dare to refer to the AK Party as a bargaining party?" he asked, adding that his party was not in need of "alliance and counseling from Demirtas or his peers."
The issue of a potential presidential system has been a hot topic in Turkey for the past few months as the country approaches parliamentary elections in June 2015.
Turkey has been governed under a parliamentary system since its founding in 1923. The country has been discussing the possible introduction of a presidential system and Erdogan has expressed his willingness for such a change.
A constitutional amendment or a new charter is needed to set up a presidential system in Turkey. The country's current constitution was drafted two years after a military takeover in 1980 and numerous amendments have been made to it since then.
Erdogan is the first president of the Republic of Turkey to be elected by popular vote. Prior to that, he was the country’s prime minister for 11 years.
