President should maintain ties with own party: Erdogan

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has highlighted the importance for a head of state to maintain ties with his own political party.

Erdogan was asked about the draft for a new constitution, especially the provisions on the new shape of presidency at a press conference in Ankara Wednesday.

"When a president breaks off ties with the party [that brought him to power], it weakens political effectiveness and the active [political] structure,” he said.

He said there was “no doubt” that when the president works in tandem with his party, it makes “the party and the president strong and more determined steps get to be made in solidarity."

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are in talks over the draft of the new constitution.

On Tuesday, MHP leader Devlet Bahceli objected to certain expressions used to describe the presidency in the AK Party’s draft. Hinting at this, the president said: "It is not a problem for me if this [draft] uses 'presidential' or 'presidency'. “

Bahceli confirmed Tuesday he had received a new draft from AK Party, which would be discussed within his party and later in an inter-party commission. The aim was to submit an agreed draft to the parliament’s general assembly "as soon as possible," the MHP leader added.

The Turkish government wants to replace the parliamentary system with a presidential one, saying there are flaws in the current system that holds back Turkey’s development.

Call for Morsi’s release

Erdogan said former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi had been ousted via a coup and he and his supporters were victims, who should be released from jails as soon as possible.

“This is not a fair process for Mr. Morsi and his friends [in Egypt]. They are victims and oppressed now. They should be released as soon as possible rather than making way for the retrial of Morsi and his friends," he added.

Egypt’s highest appellate court on Tuesday overturned the death sentence handed down earlier against Morsi and ordered that he be retried for alleged jailbreak.

Morsi, along with five leading members of his Muslim Brotherhood group, were sentenced to death last year for allegedly taking part in a mass jailbreak during a 2011 popular uprising that forced autocratic president Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power. Twenty-one other defendants were given life sentences in the same case.

Germany’s reluctance to act against terror

The Turkish president also criticized Germany's attitude towards terrorism.

"They always give their expressions about the fight against terror. However, we will not open up to these expressions anymore, we want implementation," Erdogan said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier earlier denied his country had become a platform for terrorists. He said Germany and Turkey were fighting “hand in hand” against Daesh and the PKK.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday: “We have expectations from Germany. First of all, we do not want PKK terrorists to roam freely around Germany.”

The PKK was banned in Germany in 1993 but has more than 14,000 active members in the country and raised more than €13 million ($14.3 million) in 2015, according to the annual report of the German domestic intelligence agency, BfV.

Following the press conference, Erdogan left for Pakistan on a two-day official visit.