Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoganThinkstock

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for fresh parliamentary elections, his office said on Monday, according to Reuters.

The move was widely anticipated after two months of coalition talks failed to produce a coalition government ahead of a deadline.

Sources from Erdogan's office said he would meet Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at 11:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The president was expected to ask Davutoglu to form a temporary power-sharing government ahead of an election slated for November 1, according to Reuters.

"Our president decided to renew the Turkish Grand National Assembly elections based on the authority given to him by the constitution," the statement from his office said after he met parliamentary speaker Ismet Yilmaz.

The AK Party, founded by Erdogan, came first in elections in June but lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in more than a decade, forcing it to seek a coalition partnership. Coalition-building efforts with Turkey's pro-secular party had collapsed last week.

AKP was given the option of allowing another party - main opposition party the Republican People's Party (CHP) - the chance to form a government, but Erdogan has apparently decided to favor another chance to regain AKP's former power. 

Davutoglu last week returned the mandate to form a government to Erdogan, after failing to reach an agreement at a last-ditch meeting with a nationalist party.

The uncertainty, coming as the NATO member battles Islamic State insurgents on its borders and Kurdish militants at home, has unnerved investors and sent the lira currency to a series of record lows. Many Turks question whether a new election will yield anything other than a similarly inconclusive result.