Erdogan meets Turkey nationalist chief on snap poll call

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday met with his key ally and leader of Turkey's main nationalist party for critical talks on a proposal to hold snap elections this August. Devlet Bahceli, who leads the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), stunned Turkish politics observers on Tuesday when he urged the government not to wait for November 3, 2019 to hold presidential and parliamentary elections. Bahceli told MHP lawmakers that the elections -- which are due to be held at the same time next year -- should in fact be held on August 26, 2018. The comments surprised commentators since the government led by Erdogan has repeatedly insisted there will be no early elections. The eagerly-awaited meeting with Erdogan at his presidential palace lasted only half an hour, the presidency said. It said Erdogan would himself make a statement about the meeting at 1230 GMT. It is highly unusual for the president to make such statements to the press in person at his presidential palace. - Kingmaker Bahceli - The elections are significant as a new executive presidency -- agreed in a 2017 referendum and denounced by the opposition as giving the head of state authoritarian powers -- will come into force. The government on Tuesday indicated it would consider Bahceli's request. But Erdogan refused to make any direct comment on the situation until he met with the MHP leader. Erdogan has established a formal alliance with the MHP to fight the elections, making it hard for his party to dismiss Bahceli's call out of hand. MHP leader since 1997, Bahceli is seen as a kingmaker in Turkish politics and has played a role in some key moments of its modern history. He precipitated the 2002 snap polls that brought Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power. The AKP has ruled Turkey ever since. Abdulkadir Selvi, a pro-Erdogan columnist in the Hurriyet newspaper, wrote on Wednesday that there were different scenarios possible from the meeting. He said the first scenario could be early elections on August 26 as Bahceli proposed, or Erdogan could insist that elections take place on the dates already established. Selvi added said a third situation could arise in which a new date was put forward. Analysts have said that the state of the Turkish economy could tempt the government to consider the early election call and hold polls before there is any serious deterioration. While growth in Turkey was 7.4 percent in 2017, double-digit inflation, a wide current account deficit and the need for debt restructuring at top companies could be harbingers of trouble ahead.