Turkish PM asked to form new government

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to form new government, the presidential press office said on Thursday.

"As of now we have started efforts to fulfill this duty and firstly we will hold talks with the chairmen of political parties," Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul.

He said the first round of the negotiations over "government partnership" will run to July 15.

"The second round of meetings will be held in accordance with the atmosphere following Eid al-Fitr," Davutoglu added, referring to post-Ramadan celebrations.

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.