Turk PM says will quit if loses majority after poll

ANKARA, July 17 (Reuters) Turkey's prime minister said today he would quit politics if his ruling centre-right AK Party does not win enough seats to form a government alone after Sunday's parliamentary election.

Opinion polls suggest Tayyip Erdogan, an ex-Islamist, will secure enough support to form a single-party government again, though some analysts do not rule out a coalition.

Turkey's financial markets have soared this month on an assumption that the pro-business AK Party will be able to govern alone. They fear a coalition government would lead to slower economic and political reforms and possibly to instability.

''If we cannot come to power on our own, I will withdraw from politics,'' Erdogan, Turkey's most popular politician, said in televised remarks during a campaign rally in southern Turkey.

His threat appeared partly aimed at encouraging supporters who might otherwise prefer to stay on the beach during this holiday season to cast their ballots.

Erdogan defied his main rivals to make a similar pledge, knowing that neither the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) nor the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has a realistic chance of forming a single-party government.

Opinion polls show the AK Party winning up to 40 per cent of the vote, with the staunchly secularist CHP coming second on about 20 per cent and the MHP on 10 to 15 per cent.

A large number of independent candidates, many of them supporters of more rights for Turkey's large Kurdish minority, are also expected to win seats in the 550-member parliament.

Erdogan's AK Party has presided over strong economic growth, falling inflation, surging foreign investment and the historic launch of European Union entry talks in the past five years.

KURDISH REBELS But increased attacks on Turkish security forces by Kurdish separatist rebels have bolstered support for nationalist parties.

High unemployment has also damaged the AK Party.

Underlining the security threat, officials said today two Turkish soldiers had been killed in a clash with rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey in 1984. Violent attacks have increased over the past year.

On another sombre note, an independent election candidate died late yesterday in Istanbul after unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car. Police have detained three people but there was no suggestion the attack had been politically motivated.

The European Commission urged Turkey to accelerate its stalled EU reform process after Sunday's poll.

''After the parliamentary elections we expect Turkey to step up its reform push again and to make progress in the direction of the EU,'' EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told Germany's Die Welt newspaper in an interview published today.

''Progress is needed with regard to freedom of belief and religion. Only then can the membership negotiations get a new thrust,'' said Rehn, a strong supporter of Turkey's EU bid.

The EU has barely featured in the election campaign, reflecting Turks' disenchantment with an organisation they believe does not seriously mean ever to admit their country.

Opposition to Turkey's bid from the leaders of EU heavyweights France and Germany has sapped Ankara's appetite for reform which analysts say the election is unlikely to change.

Reuters LPB RN2056