22 November 2015•Update: 23 November 2015
ANKARA
Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker Ismail Kahraman was elected speaker of Turkish parliament on Sunday.
Kahraman received 316 votes in the third round of voting by the Grand National Assembly’s 550 deputies.
The Istanbul deputy replaces Ismet Yilmaz as parliamentary speaker, the second highest position in the Turkish state.
Kahraman, a veteran AK Party member from Rize, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s home province, promised objectivity under his tenure.
“We will conduct the legislative and supervisory efforts in line with the constitution, regulation and bylaws in full objectivity,” he told deputies after the vote.
“I believe our lawmakers and parties will display the required sensitivity to enable effective efforts by parliament and to protect its dignity. That’s what our nation expects from us.”
He said redrafting Turkey’s current constitution, written following the 1980 military coup, would rank high on the parliament’s agenda.
Kahraman previously worked at the labor and culture ministries as, respectively, undersecretary and minister.
Married with four children, he served as culture minister between 1996 and 1997 and was previously a deputy in Turkey’s 20th and 21st parliaments.
The AK Party holds 317 seats in parliament while the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has 134 seats, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) 59 seats and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 40.
In the first two rounds of voting, successful candidates would have needed the support of at least 367 lawmakers.
In a third round of voting, a minimum of 276 votes is needed.
