Turkish parliament to elect speaker July 4

July 4, 2011 - 16:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish parliament will hold elections Monday, July 4, to elect a new speaker, with ruling Justice and Development, or AKP, candidate Cemil Çiçek appearing to have a decided edge over his competitors, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Çiçek is expected to be elected to the post in the third round. His competition includes AKP colleague Zelkif Kazdal and Tunca Toskay of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

Çiçek is an experienced politician who served as justice minister and deputy prime minister in the AKP’s last two terms. The Republican People’s Party, or CHP, has also expressed support for Çiçek’s bid.

At the moment, however, the main opposition CHP has refused to take the parliamentary oath to protest the continued incarceration of its two jailed deputies, journalist Mustafa Balbay and academic Mehmet Haberal, who were elected but have been detained for more than two years on charges of involvement in alleged plots to destabilize and overthrow the AKP.

Independent deputies backed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, are also boycotting parliament after Turkey’s Supreme Election Board, or YSK, barred their colleague, Hatip Dicle, from the legislature for a previous terrorism-related conviction. The 35 pro-Kurdish deputies did not participate in the oath ceremony either.

Because of the CHP and BDP’s stance, more than 30 percent of the candidates elected in the June 12 general elections have not taken the oath ceremony.