The emergency state in Turkey will not affect the holding of early parliamentary and presidential elections, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said.
"To move the elections to an earlier time foils the step of those who have made dirty calculations against Turkey. The new system of government will be implemented through the will of people on June 24," Bozdag said, speaking to the Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk in Ankara.
According to him, Turks will open a "new period" on June 24 through the planned early elections.
“We decided to move the elections to an earlier date to prevent Turkey from getting harmed,” he said, adding that this would also end debates about the elections in the country.
Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on June 24, 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. The announcement came after opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) head Devlet Bahceli called for early elections. Earlier the Republican People's Party (CHP) demanded the government to abolish the state of emergency.
On April 16, 2017, Turkey held a referendum during which the majority of voters pronounced themselves in favor of an 18-article bill switching a parliamentary system into a presidential one.
