UPDATE - AK Party to submit presidential system bill: Turkish PM

*UPDATES WITH PM’S COMMENT ON MOSUL OPERATION

ANKARA (AA) - Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday said the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party would soon be submitting a bill for a new constitution and presidential system.

“We will submit a proposal including new constitutional amendments and presidential system to the parliament as soon as possible” he told his party’s parliamentary group meeting, adding the final decision belonged to the parliament.

Yildirim also commented on the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli’s Tuesday remarks giving green light to a referendum for a constitutional change and shift to the presidential system, saying they were truly spoken words, and Bahceli was "on the right path."

Constitutional change, in particular the call for a presidential system, has been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former prime minister and AK Party leader, was elected Turkey's president in August 2014.

That election marked the first time a Turkish president, whose role is currently defined as being largely symbolic, was directly chosen by popular vote.

Changing to the presidential system is opposed by Turkey’s three other parliamentary parties, and the AK Party lacks the super-majority in parliament needed to make the change without submitting it to a referendum.

- Mosul operation

Yildirim said that the AK Party stood behind President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s earlier remarks about the ongoing Mosul operation against Daesh in Iraq, in which he said Turkey would not only participate in the offensive but would also “be at the table for talks”.

“We stand behind Mr. President’s words. We will never allow any fait accompli right at our borders”, he said.

The Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a much-awaited offensive late Sunday to retake Mosul – the last Daesh stronghold in northern Iraq, which was overrun by the terrorist group in 2014.

Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops have taken 19 villages on the first day of the offensive, Iraqi and Peshmerga sources told Anadolu Agency Tuesday.

In mid-2014, Daesh took Mosul and overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by a 60-nation air coalition led by the U.S. retake a large portion of the territory. Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.