Erdoğan rules out return to a parliamentary system

Duvar English 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ruled out a return to parliamentary democracy and said that Turkey can't find peace in a multi-party system. 

Speaking to state-run broadcaster TRT Haber on June 1, Erdoğan said that the parliamentary system brought instability to Turkey and that coalition governments harmed the country. 

"Parliamentary democracy has become a thing of the past for us and the people. We went through periods that Turkey was at a loss because of the coalitions," he said. 

Erdoğan's remarks came in response to the opposition's increased efforts on returning to a parliamentary system in Turkey on the grounds that the current presidential system is a tool for the president's one-man regime and that the country has been backsliding in numerous areas since 2018. 

Turkish voters said "yes" to shifting the country's governance system to an executive presidency with a controversial referendum on constitutional amendments on April 16, 2017.

The country shifted to the system officially on July 9, 2018, replacing a 95-year-old parliamentary system.

The system granted sweeping powers to Erdoğan and allowed him to be both the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader and the president at the same time.

Erdoğan on June 1 slammed the opposition Nation Alliance for working on a draft constitution, saying that their charter won't be "local or national." 

"This nation wants a local and national constitution, not something un-national," Erdoğan said, accusing the opposition parties of collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). 

According to Erdoğan, the people elected the AKP in 2002 due to being tired of coalition governments. 

"The people absolutely don't want to return to that period," the president claimed. 

'I received three doses'

Separately, Erdoğan boasted about having received three doses of the coronavirus vaccine, prompting outrage on social media since millions of people are waiting to receive the first dose. 

"I received three doses and checked my antibody levels," Erdoğan said. 

The shortage of COVID-19 vaccines has been a major controversy in Turkey, with a mere 12.6 million people out of 80 million having received two doses. 

'Did you kill your pet?'

Also during the June 1 interview, Erdoğan was asked whether a long-expected animal rights law is on its way. 

One of the journalists attempted to ask the question before getting interrupted by the president. 

"How many pets do you own?" Erdoğan asked, to which the journalist responded by saying that he owned two until last week, implying that one of them passed away. 

"Did you kill your pet?" Erdoğan asked and laughed. 

"I didn't kill it," the journalist responded during the awkward dialogue.