Turkish PM says democracy wounded, urges snap elections

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called for snap elections and condemned a court ruling that annulled a disputed presidential vote as a "bullet fired at democracy."

His Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) submitted a proposal for early legislative elections on June 24, about four months ahead of schedule, as a way out of a crisis that has led to a tense standoff between the government and the staunchly secularist military.

The move came one day after the Constitutional Court annulled Friday's first-round parliamentary vote for a new president, in which Erdogan's closest aide, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, was the sole candidate.

The ruling "almost made it impossible" to elect a president in parliament and is "a bullet fired at democracy," Erdogan said in an impassioned speech to party deputies.

The current turmoil erupted after the prospect of an AKP president sparked a vocal secularist campaign against the party.

Opponents charge that the AKP, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, is not truly committed to Turkey's fiercely guarded secular system and is eroding the separation of state and religion.

Tensions climaxed Friday when the military, responsible for four past interventions, accused the government of tolerating rising Islamist activity and threatened to take action.

The statement came hours after a vote in parliament ballot -- boycotted by the opposition -- that left Gul 10 short of the required two-thirds majority to succeed outgoing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a hardline secularist.

More than one million pro-secular Turks demonstrated in Istanbul at the weekend against an AKP president, after a similar mass rally two weeks earlier in Ankara.

Erdogan, who has led Turkey since March 2003, insisted Wednesday that his party was committed to secularism.

He also urged respect for differences -- an apparent reference to objections raised over Gul's wife wearing the Islamic headscarf, seen by secularists as a symbol of political Islam.

"The essential problem is to manage to stay united, preserving our differences," he said. "Rights and freedoms are necessary for everybody."

Pointing to the most popular slogan at the anti-AKP protests, he said: "They say 'Turkey is secular, it will remain secular'. We do not say anything different -- yes, Turkey is secular, it will remain secular."

The European Union warned that army meddling in politics could harm Turkey's membership prospects and called for the elections to be "carried out democratically without any undue interference."

The AKP proposal must be voted into law by parliament for elections to be brought forward from their current November 4 date.

The Constitutional Court said the presidential election process should begin anew because a quorum was lacking in Friday's first round.

It hit back at Erdogan's criticism Wednesday, saying that his "irresponsible" remarks were making the tribunal "a target."

Parliament fixed a new timetable, scheduling the first round re-run for Sunday, but Gul is unlikely to win the required support.

He said he would not insist if he fails again.

Throwing down the gauntlet to the opposition, Erdogan also pushed for comprehensive constitutional amendments, including the election of the president by a two-round popular vote that could change the face of Turkish politics.

The proposed reform modifies the presidency to run for a once-renewable, five-year mandate instead of the current single, seven-year term, and calls for general elections every four years instead of the current five.

The AKP said it would sumbit the draft to parliament later Wednesday.

If Gul fails in his second bid, the AKP wants to have the early general elections and the first round of the popular vote for president held simultaneously.

Financial markets welcomed the prospect of early elections, with the national index of the Istanbul stock exchange rising by 1.67 percent and the Turkish lira gaining ground against the dollar.