Turkish Parties End Exploratory Coalition Talks

Turkey's two largest parliamentary parties on Monday completed exploratory talks on forming a coalition government, delegates said.



Teams from the Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Republican People's Party (CHP) will now compile reports to submit to their leaders.



"We have made our assessments between the two parties with mutual courtesy and respect," Omer Celik, the minister heading the AK Party delegation, said. "We will convey the results to our party chairmen."



His counterpart, CHP Deputy Chairman Haluk Koc, said there were issues where the two sides agreed but "serious and key discrepancies and differences on certain issues" existed.



"The next step depends on the decision to be made by the ruling party and [Prime Minister] Ahmet Davutoglu, who was assigned to form the new government," he added.



The exploratory stage came to a close after more than seven hours of talks at Ankara Palas.



Davutoglu was asked to form a new government within a 45-day timeframe on July 9. Talks have been ongoing since July 13.



If he is unable to form a coalition, tradition dictates the second-placed party - the CHP – should be offered the chance to create an administration. If this fails, a fresh election is likely to be called for late November. - Ankara