ANKARA // Turkey will make a leap forward if it adopts a system strengthening the powers of strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his ruling party’s election win, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
“We have a clear opinion that the presidential system will help Turkey jump to another league,” Ibrahim Kalin said in Ankara, signalling that the issue could be put to the Turkish people in a referendum.
His comments came three days after the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, clawed back a majority in a general election – a triumph for Mr Erdogan, whose ambition for stronger presidential powers rests on his party controlling parliament.
The AKP, founded by Mr Erdogan, won a resounding victory in Sunday’s election but is still 13 seats short of the 330 required to call a referendum on any constitutional change.
Mr Erdogan cast the outcome as a vote for stability after months of uncertainty, but opponents fear it will only fuel the hunger for power of a leader they say has grown increasingly authoritarian.
“An issue like the presidential system can’t be decided without the nation. If the mechanism requires a referendum, then we will hold a referendum,” Mr Kalin said, adding the change was not simply a personal issue for Mr Erdogan.
“The executive presidency is not a question of our president’s personal future. He has already entered the history books. The basic motivation is to make the system in Turkey as effective as possible.”
Mr Kalin indicated little change in Turkey’s foreign policy following Sunday’s election, saying its “open-door” policy to refugees from Syria would continue whether or not it received assistance from the European Union.
Turkey is under pressure from the EU, which it aspires to join, to do more to keep refugees on its soil and help stem the biggest migration movement the continent has seen since the Second World War. The EU has proposed financial aid and faster membership for Turkey in the hope of winning its help.
Mr Kalin also said Turkey’s fight against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants and against ISIL would continue “with determination”. The struggle against terrorism and the migration crisis would be discussed at a G20 leaders’ summit in Turkey later this month.
* Agencies
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