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Opposition backs Erdogan PM bid
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The AKP leader banned from parliament for a previous conviction should be allowed to become prime minister, Turkey's opposition leader says. Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) overwhelmingly won the November 3 election, but his conviction for Islamist sedition prevents him from becoming prime minister. Now, opposition leader Deniz Baykal says the parliament ban should be ended. "I support the view that the path must be opened for Mr. Erdogan to become prime minister," Reuters reported him as telling the by the local Milliyet newspaper on Sunday. On Saturday, Turkey's election board confirmed the AKP's election victory, which gave it 34.29 percent of the vote and 363 seats in the 550-seat parliament. Although the victory lets the AKP pass laws without opposition support, it would need that backing to gain the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution -- and lift the ban on Erdogan. Baykal, who heads the Republican People's Party (CHP), was quoted on Sunday as backing constitutional changes that would let Erdogan run for parliament in a by-election. Efforts to allow Erdogan to become prime minister would likely take weeks, Reuters reported. Erdogan is expected to name his candidate for prime minister early this week. The AKP has its origins in Turkey's Islamic movement but calls itself a secular, democratic party. Erdogan has repeatedly denied that his party seeks an Islamic agenda and has emphasised Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
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