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Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said he supports Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç for his speech last week in which he firmly declared that the court would not take instructions from the executive branch, stating that Kılıç's speech was correct and appropriate, though he questioned why Kılıç took so long to raise the issue of the troubling interventions of the executive branch in the judiciary.
 

A majority of the 21-seated Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) lawmakers have joined the sister party, Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP). 

The move was described by the BDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş as a new phase in “the quest for democratic unity in Turkey.”

“We have to be the common struggle and common voice of all oppressed identities. This is indispensable for us,” Demirtaş said on April 28 at a ceremony on April 28 for this occasion. 

President Abdullah Gül, attending the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Adana Commodity Exchange on Thursday, said the debate surrounding the upcoming presidential elections is normal and that the important thing is to follow the correct procedures. 

“No risk or lack of foresight should come out of this process,” Gül pointed out in an address to the business community during his half-day visit to Adana. Gül reminded his audience of the problems Turkey had encountered in previous presidential elections.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has emerged as a strong potential candidate for the prime ministry, after President Abdullah Gül’s recent statement appearing to distance him from the role.

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay has declared that “Twitter now toes the line,” after the San Francisco-based social media platform began withholding two accounts that are subject to complaints by Turkey’s political authorities because they violated “personality rights and the right to private life.”

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has prepared a draft bill on a new electoral system based on narrowed constituencies, which is expected to allow it to increase its number of lawmakers by 25.

The AKP is also considering pulling down the current 10 percent parliamentary threshold to 7 or 5 percent. The draft law has to be enacted before Parliament’s scheduled recess on June 12 to be applied during the general elections next year.

The Constitutional Court partly overturned a controversial judicial bill on April 11, demanding a redefinition of the justice minister’s increased competences.

The bill on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), drafted by the government as a response to graft allegations, had sparked weeks of debate over concerns on the independence of the judiciary.

The court has overturned the articles in the law regarding new competences conferred to the justice minister. 

Parliament is set to begin deliberations today about a bill expanding the powers of Turkey’s spy agency with additional missions both inside and outside the country, formally turning it into an intelligence coordination body that will work directly under the prime minister. Known as the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Law, the proposal was withdrawn in February after President Abdullah Gül demanded major changes to the proposed text. 

President Abdullah Gül has indirectly criticized formulas floating around about his position in the post-Erdoğan era, saying his word is crucial in the presidential elections because the issue individually concerns him. 

Gül made this comment upon being questioned whether he would prefer being elected deputy of Bayburt province or an early election in order to take the seat at the Prime Ministry.