President Erdogan made the widely expected announcement in a statement broadcast on Turkish television on Friday.

“We will take our country to elections,” the president said, adding that he planned to meet with the speaker of parliament on Monday to make the necessary arrangements. “God willing, Turkey will hold elections again on November 1.”

The date had been suggested by Turkey’s electoral commission on Thursday, but cannot officially be made until this coming Sunday, when the deadline for forming a coalition following the June 7 general election expires.

Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won that election, but lost its overall majority in parliament for the first time since it first came to power in 2002.

Failed coalition talks

Davutoglu, who succeeded Erdogan as prime minister after he became president, tried unsuccessfully to form a coalition government, holding talks first with the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which came in third in the June election, and later with the third placed Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The prime minister, who set the stage for the snap elections by handing back his mandate to form a government to the president earlier this week, is expected to be tasked with forming an interim administration.

Erdogan could have used his presidential powers to give the leader of the CHP the opportunity to form a government, but elected to call the snap polls instead. Observers say Erdogan, who wants to change the constitution to strengthen the role of the president, is banking on his AKP recovering its parliamentary majority in the November election.

The polls come as the the Turkish military is involved in an air campaign both against Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and “Islamic State” militants.

pfd/kms (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)