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Turkish prime minister asked to form new government

09 July 2015 18:54 (UTC +04:00)

"Our president tasked Mr. Davutoglu to form the 63rd government," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.

Sources in the Prime Minister's office said Davutoglu would ask to meet the leaders of the opposition parties for an initial round of talks scheduled to end on July 15.

Davutoglu now has 45 days to form a government around the Justice and Development (AK) Party, which gained the largest share of parliamentary seats in the June 7 general election.

Although the party came in first, it did not win enough seats to form a majority government so must attempt to forge a coaliton with the three other parliamentary parties - the second-placed Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). Either the left-leaning CHP or the right-wing MHP are likely to be Davutoglu's preferred partners.

If he is unable to form a coalition, tradition dictates the president should offer the second-placed party the chance to create an administration within the same 45-day period. If this does not succeed, the president must call a fresh election and appoint a prime minister within five days to form an interim government consisting of representatives from all four parties.

The new election would likely be held towards the end of November.