Turkish PM calls for early parliamentary election

Ankara, May 2: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said 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.

Reuters>