Turkey PM praises opposition leader for referendum call

AFYONKARAHISAR, Turkey (AA) – Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday praised the leader of Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) for his backing of a referendum on a proposed presidential system.

Speaking during a ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party meeting in the country's western Afyon province, Yildirim described MHP leader Devlet Bahceli's view as “applaudable”.

Bahceli has called for a referendum to settle the debate on Turkey’s constitution and presidential system.

On Tuesday, Bahceli said: "The MHP is on the side of the continuation of [Turkey’s] parliamentary system while it is revised and reformed.

"I trust in the Turkish nation. I believe a healthy and rational result will come out if the AK Party submits a bill about the constitutional changes to the Turkish parliament, [where it] would pursue our sensitivity and principle."

Prime Minister Yildirim said although the MHP "may be against presidential system" and "in favor of parliamentary system", Bahceli's call was "very important within the scope of letting the people have the final say about it".

Constitutional change, in particular, the call for a presidential system, has been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former prime minister and AK Party leader, was elected Turkey's president in August 2014.

That election was the first time a Turkish president was directly chosen by popular vote.

Yildirim said the AK Party will propose a new constitutional draft to parliament "as soon as possible".

"Although the current constitution designates the president as 'unaccountable', our president -- elected with 52 percent of popular vote -- has a de facto political responsibility," Yildirim said. "That is why from the beginning we say 'let's make our constitution in line with this de facto situation'."