Turkey's Gul to pull from vote race if no quorum

ANKARA, May 6 (Reuters) Turkey's controversial presidential candidate Abdullah Gul said today he would withdraw from the race if his Islamist-rooted AK Party failed to secure quorum in parliament.

''If we don't get 367 (votes), I will withdraw,'' Gul told reporters in parliament ahead of a rerun of the first round of a parliamentary vote to select a new president.

The first round in favour of the AK Party's candidate was annulled last week by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that two-thirds of parliament, or 367 members, had to be present for the vote to be valid.

EU candidate Turkey has been plunged into crisis by the court's decision, which responded to an opposition party appeal.

The army, a powerful part of Turkey's secular elite, has also objected to the ruling party's choice of candidate for president.

Fighting back, the government organised a vote rerun while also calling early general elections and pushing for a change to the constitution to allow the public rather than parliament to elect the president.

REUTERS RJ PM1417