ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's highest court on Tuesday annulled a presidential vote that had been dominated by concerns about the rising profile of political Islam, opening the way for possible early general elections.
The ruling was issued after the opposition boycotted the vote on Friday, and after huge protests by hundreds of thousands of pro-secular Turks against the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The decision represents a setback for the government, which had hoped to strengthen its authority with the election of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to the presidency.
Governing party figures have said they were considering early general elections to defuse tensions with the military-backed secular establishment.
Media reports said the government planned an announcement later Tuesday.
"We've canceled the first round" of the Parliament's presidential voting. "Whether the Parliament will continue the vote or not, we can't know," court spokesman Hasim Kilic said.
In its ruling, the court accepted the leading opposition party's argument that the vote was invalid because a quorum of two-thirds of Turkey 550 legislators was not present.
"Our court ruled that a quorum of 367 was necessary," Kilic said.
The ruling was issued after the opposition boycotted the vote on Friday, and after huge protests by hundreds of thousands of pro-secular Turks against the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The decision represents a setback for the government, which had hoped to strengthen its authority with the election of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to the presidency.
Governing party figures have said they were considering early general elections to defuse tensions with the military-backed secular establishment.
Media reports said the government planned an announcement later Tuesday.
"We've canceled the first round" of the Parliament's presidential voting. "Whether the Parliament will continue the vote or not, we can't know," court spokesman Hasim Kilic said.
In its ruling, the court accepted the leading opposition party's argument that the vote was invalid because a quorum of two-thirds of Turkey 550 legislators was not present.
"Our court ruled that a quorum of 367 was necessary," Kilic said.
Will be interesting to see what the army will do. What a mess....
Asmodean
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