MARDIN, Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed speculation that he would ask Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to form a government ahead of the election of a parliament speaker.
"I do not have such a thought before the election of the Parliament Speaker," Erdogan told the reporters Saturday after meeting U.N. refugee agency chief Antonio Guterres and agency’s goodwill ambassador, Hollywood star Angelina Jolie in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin.
Earlier, Turkish media carried speculation that Erdogan will task Davutoglu to form a government before the parliament elects a speaker, typically about a week after it convenes for the first time for oath-taking on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
According to the official results of the June 7 general election, the AK Party leads with 258 seats in the Turkish parliament. The CHP has 132 seats, followed by the MHP and the HDP, each with 80 seats.
Since none of the four parties has the necessary majority to form a single-party government, a coalition is needed following the opening of the parliament.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to ask the AK Party to form a government since it is the party with the highest vote.
Turkey's constitution stipulates that a new government must be formed within 45 days following the president's demand.
If no government is formed, the country will have to hold early parliamentary elections.
In his remarks on the Syrian refugees in Turkey, Erdogan said that Turkey did not and would not close its doors to the refugees.
"We will continue this effort until the conditions [in Syria] return to normal," he added.
He underlined that about 23,000 refuges had entered Turkey from Tel Abyad.
Turkey shares a 900-kilometer border with Syria and has sheltered more than 1.7 million Syrians, according to the U.N.
According to government figures, Turkey has spent more than $6 billion so far for refugees while the international community's help has amounted to $300 million.
