Has Erdo?an given up his target so easily?

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu was pretty clear when he said ?We wanted a shift to a presidential system but the people did not approve it? as a summary of the June 7 election in Turkey.

That was actually a self-criticism on behalf of the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti), since the election campaign had not only focused on sustaining power but also on getting a superior majority in parliament for a new constitution to shift the system from the current parliamentary one into a strong presidential one, as President Tayyip Erdo?an wanted.

It was also a gentle and indirect but public pledge to Erdo?an to stay in the limits of the current constitution, as all other parties have been demanding, and put forward as a condition for a coalition with the AK Parti.

By that time, Erdo?an had already made a short written statement in which he said ?all parties? should draw lessons from the election results and should act ?responsibly.? But the signals coming from the presidential palace were claiming that Erdo?an could be in favor of another election, for example in November, to try his luck once again for a superior AK Parti majority to achieve his goal.

Yet Erdo?an?s first post-election move did not prove that. After talking to Davuto?lu when he received his resignation - a routine act, since he lost parliamentary majority - Erdo?an made an unexpected move by meeting with Deniz Baykal, the former leader of the social democratic Republican People?s Party (CHP).

Baykal said after the meeting that he saw ?Erdo?an open to all coalition possibilities.?

During an evaluation meeting, the AK Parti executive concluded they could work ?in harmony? with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in a possible coalition, but they could...