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Turkey PM to ask for early poll Turkey party requests early poll
(about 2 hours later)
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will ask parliament to approve an early general election when it meets on Wednesday. Turkey's ruling AK party has asked parliament to approve early general elections amid deadlock over who should become the country's new president.
He also wants a change in the constitution to allow the president to be chosen by the people, not by MPs. The party formally proposed 24 June for the polls, which were set for November.
Mr Erdogan was speaking after Turkey's constitutional court annulled last Friday's vote to elect a new president. The moves comes after Turkey's constitutional court annulled last Friday's vote to elect a new president.
Secularist opposition parties had challenged the vote in court to prevent the foreign minister from winning. Secularist opposition parties boycotted the vote to prevent the ruling party candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, from winning.
The parties accuse Abdullah Gul of having a hidden Islamist agenda and say that if he became president it would threaten Turkey's secular tradition. They accuse Mr Gul of having a hidden Islamist agenda and say that if he became president it would threaten Turkey's secular tradition.
Mr Erdogan, the leader of the AK party, which has Islamist roots and had put forward Mr Gul as its candidate, said a new general election could be held as soon as 24 June. The row over the presidency has exposed deep divisions in a country founded on strict secular principles.
The polls are currently scheduled for 4 November. On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Istanbul in support of secularism. The army has also warned that it will not permit Turkey's secular traditions to be compromised.
Army role 'Going to the people'
Mr Erdogan announced a package of reform proposals that included reducing the term of parliament from five years to four. On Tuesday, the constitutional court backed the opposition's argument that a quorum of two-thirds of the 550 lawmakers was not present for the first round of presidential voting.
He would also push for a five-year presidency rather than seven, allowing for the possibility of serving two terms rather than just one. KEY DATES 16 May: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's term ends24 June: Requested dates for early polls4 November: Scheduled date for polls
Mr Erdogan said a new timetable for the annulled presidential vote would be set out on Wednesday. A total of 361 lawmakers voted - 357 for Mr Gul - but 367 were needed to make a quorum, the court said.
Media reports said AK, which has a strong parliamentary majority, would propose the first round be held this Thursday. Speaking after the court decision, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish people should resolve the row.
The court ruled there was not a quorum for Friday's voteAnalysts say Mr Erdogan's election move is an attempt to create a fresh mandate to end a crisis that has tested Turkey's secularism and hit the stock markets. "The parliamentary system has been blocked... We are urgently going to the people. Our people will make the best decisions," he said.
Mr Erdogan was speaking after the constitutional court annulled last Friday's vote in which Mr Gul failed to win the required majority amid a boycott by the opposition. He also called for the constitution to be changed to allow the president to be elected by popular vote, rather than by parliament.
The constitutional court backed the opposition's argument that a quorum of two-thirds of the 550 lawmakers was not present. Mr Erdogan also pledged to move forward with a new round in the presidential vote, but his candidate remains unlikely to secure the required two-thirds majority.
A total of 361 lawmakers voted - 357 for Mr Gul - but 367 were needed to make a quorum. Analysts say Mr Erdogan's election move is an attempt to create a fresh mandate to end a crisis that has tested Turkey's secularism and hit the stock market.
Mr Gul and Mr Erdogan deny there is any hidden Islamist agenda. His party has presided over a period of strong economic growth and would fare well in general elections, analysts believe.
But the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says the army had made it clear it would not tolerate Mr Gul as president. If Mr Gul does become president, he will be the first incumbent to have Islamist roots, and the first president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf.
It warned it would defend the separation of state and religion, the legacy of the state's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. But Mr Gul and Mr Erdogan deny there is any hidden Islamist agenda, and Mr Gul has pledged to adhere to the republic's secular principles if he were elected.
Our correspondent says the court is officially independent but had been under immense pressure to reach precisely the verdict it did. It is one that is likely to divide Turkey further, she says.
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Istanbul in support of secularism.