ANKARA
The project of a new Turkey will be a new constitution and a new presidential system, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday.
Erdogan made the remarks at the launch of a new metro line, the Levent-Rumeli Hisarustu, in Istanbul.
Addressing the opposition that aims to get 10 percent of votes in the upcoming June elections to form a coalition government, the president said: “The coalition is not a project, but a nightmare. The project that is needed for the development of a new turkey is a new constitution and a new presidential system.”
Erdogan wants a presidential system to replace the current parliamentary form of governance in Turkey.
However, at the moment, the ruling Justice and Development or AK Party does not have enough seats in the Turkish parliament to vote for a constitutional change such as the introduction of a presidential system.
According to the current Turkish Constitution, such an overhaul requires the approval of two-thirds majority, or votes of 367 members out of 550 lawmakers. Only then can the president approve it or hold a referendum on the matter.
The construction of the new subway line inaugrated by the president began 28 months ago; It has four stations with the capacity to transport 8,100 people per hour.
About the metro line, Erdogan said: "With each new subway line, we are taking a step towards our aim to give Istanbul the longest railway system in the world."
About Istanbul’s transportation problems, Erdogan said: "Now, Istanbul has over 144 kilometers of rail. We aim it to reach 430 kilometers by 2019 with more projects."
Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Transportation Minister Feridun Bilgin and EU Minister Volkan Bozkir also attended the opening ceremony.
"This line was completed with 1,200 Turkish engineers and workers within 28 months of record time," Bilgin said.
Erdogan thanked the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for their efforts.
Traffic jam is one of the biggest problems for the country's most populated city, Istanbul. More than three million vehicles are registered in the province and some 1.5 million people cross from the European to the Asian side of Istanbul every day through the bridges and the Marmaray metro, which is the world's deepest underwater railway tunnel under the Bosphorus.
