Turkish PM: Strong parliament needed more than ever

By Mumin Altas

ANKARA (AA) - A strong Turkish parliament and leadership are needed more than ever to ruin "evil plans" in Turkey's region, the Turkish prime minister said on Monday.

Binali Yildirim spoke during a Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization event in Ankara, where he emphasized the importance of the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24.

"In order to ruin the evil plans against Turkey, a strong parliament and leadership are needed more than ever. With the support of the people, hopefully we will pick Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the first president of this new system. We will proceed with a strong parliament as part of our goals for a bigger Turkey and continuing stability. After June 24, the parliament's role will increase more, because the parliament will make law," Yildirim said.

He added that a strong parliament will contribute to a more effective executive and Turkey will easily achieve its future goals.

Turkey has set specific goals and targets that include major improvements in the economy, energy, healthcare and transportation for 2023, which marks the centenary of the Republic of Turkey.

In a live interview on Star TV on Saturday, Erdogan said that if there is a strong parliament behind the president, the president will benefit from a much faster decision-making process than in the current government system.

The number of Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmakers in parliament must exceed 300, Erdogan added.

Turkey will vote in presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24.

Erdogan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014.

Should he win the June 24 election, Erdogan would be Turkey's first leader under the presidential system, which does away with the prime minister's post, among other changes.