ANKARA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied allegations of thwarting the formation of a coalition government.
"We tried, and are trying, to keep our hope for the formation of a coalition government which will put forward solutions to issues," Erdogan told a reception for local community leaders at the presidential palace in Ankara.
Last month, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was asked by Erdogan to form a new government within a 45-day timeframe; talks between Turkey’s political parties have been ongoing since July 13.
The Justice and Development (AK) Party's first meeting with the Republican People's Party (CHP) as part of a first round of coalition talks was held on July 13.
In the case that the deadline expires without a government, either President Erdogan or parliament may decide to hold a new election.
Fugitive ex-prosecutors
Speaking on Wednesday, the president also slammed the so-called ‘parallel state’, describing it as a "treason network", adding: "More than 100 members of this network fled abroad."
He pledged that fugitive ex-prosecutors, who were involved in a 2013 anti-graft probe targeting Turkey's senior Cabinet members, would be brought to account sooner or later.
According to Istanbul police, two ex-prosecutors -- Zekeriya Oz and Celal Kara -- left Turkey for Georgia early Monday and later crossed into neighboring Armenia.
"Turkey is currently tracing them," the president said.
Erdogan also warned citizens against reports by the ‘parallel state’ and the “separatist terror organization” -- a reference to the illegal Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the media.
He said there were those who wanted to pin blame for the deadly July 20 Suruc bombing on Turkey’s National Intelligence Service (MIT), calling this "an operation of transferring their crime onto others".
At least 32 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in the Daesh-linked suicide bomb attack in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Erdogan also accused several -- unnamed -- media bodies of demoralizing and assisting the ‘parallel state’ and proscribed organizations.
"Together with our nation, we are also taking note of treason by these media institutions for publicly opening their pages and screens to everyone who treats our country and nationals as an enemy," he said.
HDP criticized
Erdogan also slammed Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and its leaders for "seeking a solution abroad instead of producing domestic and reasonable solutions".
"This party HDP and its members have to make a choice between the bullet in the gun and the vote in ballot box," said the president.
He recalled remarks made by HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas, pledging to block Erdogan’s plans for an executive presidency, claiming this sentence was aimed at stopping Turkey from reaching its 2023 targets.
