Turkish PM Calls For Early Parliamentary Election

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his government would seek an early parliamentary election on either June 24 or July 1.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday his government would seek an early parliamentary election on either June 24 or July 1 in a bid to break the current political paralysis.

Erdogan also told a televised news conference his ruling AK Party, locked in a dispute with secularist opponents over its choice of presidential candidate, wanted the Turkish people, not parliament, to elect the country's president.

He said the centre-right, Islamist-rooted AK Party wanted to reduce the term of parliament to four years from the current five years.