Turkish party leader: Elections set for 2023, no earlier

Turkey's next general elections will be held on time in 2023 and no earlier, said a prominent party leader on Tuesday.

"The only thing said by ignorant people, who do not understand the economy, is 'early elections.' In fact, they're not prepared, they're just like mischievous students who don't study," Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told his party's parliamentary group.

"I repeatedly say, there are no early elections, the elections will be held in June 2023," he stressed.

Bahçeli said that Turkey does not need early elections but rather "stability."

Those who want early elections are supporters of the politics of defeat, he said.

Under the Constitution, Turkey's next elections are due to be held in June 2023. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has the power to order early elections but like his political ally Bahceli, he has repeatedly ruled out such a move.

Bahçeli said that they "clearly" know about the Turkish people's economic troubles, some rooted in rising exchange rates.

"But the policies followed [by the government] are correct, everything will be fine soon," Bahçeli said.

The independence of the Turkish Central Bank-whose recent interest rate cuts were followed by rising exchange rates-should be discussed within the context of Turkey's presidential system, he said.

"At this stage, it is a necessity of both democracy and the national will to bring the independence of the Central Bank into discussion within the scope of the new [presidential] system," he said, referring to the system Turkey adopted in 2018 after a referendum the previous year.

Turkey's opposition has accused the president of interfering with the Central Bank's independence, a charge he has consistently denied.