Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 June, brought forward by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from November 2019.

He has run Turkey since 2002 and will seek five more years with beefed up powers approved in a referendum last year.

The idea of an early poll was initially proposed by nationalist allies.

Mr Erdogan said in televised speech the country needed the new election to rid it of "the diseases of the old system".

"Developments in Syria and elsewhere have made it urgent to switch to the new executive system in order to take steps for our country's future in a stronger way," the president said in a live broadcast.

Mr Erdogan said he had made the decision after speaking to the head of the nationalist MHP party, Devlet Bahceli, who is expected to form an alliance with Mr Erdogan's ruling AK Party in the parliamentary polls.

The constitutional changes, which the Turkish people narrowly backed in last year's referendum, include the abolition of the prime minister, whose powers would be assumed by an executive president.

The extended powers will only take effect after the presidential election.

The accelerated timetable also means Turkey will be voting under the state of emergency imposed since the failed coup in July 2016 which attempted to oust President Erdogan.

Meral Aksener, whose new nationalist Iyi (Good) Party split from Mr Bahceli's MHP to protest his alliance with Mr Erdogan, said hers was the "most prepared party" and announced she would stand for the presidency by collecting 100,000 signatures.

The opposition also welcomed the president's announcement. "Bring it on," said Bulent Tezcan, a spokesperson for the Republican People's Party (CHP).

Mr Tezcan said the country's state of emergency needed to be lifted immediately. "There cannot be an election under emergency rule. The country needs to be brought out of the emergency rule regime starting today."

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by BBC NEWS

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