No plans for early elections after Turkey referendum, Deputy PM Simsek says

Statement comes a day after Turks narrowly voted to change the constitution and hand Erdogan sweeping new powers

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has made it very clear that there are no plans to dissolve parliament and call for early elections before the 2019 polls, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

A day after Turks narrowly voted to change the constitution and hand Erdogan sweeping new powers, Simsek said that relations with the European Union would be on areas of common interest, adding that some of the "noise" between Ankara and Europe should die down after the European elections cycle.



"Yesterday the president made it very clear that elections will be held in November 2019," he said. "It is very clear. We have work to do."