Europe

Europe

Cemil Cicek elected Turkish parliamentâ€™s new speaker

04 July 2011 15:55 (UTC +04:00)

Cemil Cicek and Zekif Kazdal from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Tunca Toskay from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have run their candidacies for post.

In the first tour, Cicek got 302 votes, Toskay â€“ 50, Kazdal â€“ 23. Under the Constitution, one has to win two-thirds of total number of MPs (367) to be elected a parliament speaker in the first two rounds of vote. Kazdal withdrew after the first round. In the second round of vote, Cicek won 322 votes while Toskay 52.

Cicek, who is one of the experienced personalities in the Turkish policy, was born in 1946. He graduated from the Law Faculty of Istanbul University. He was one of the founders of the Motherland Party (ANAP). He became an ANAP MP for Yozgat, and in the late 1980s Minister of State responsible for "the family". He later became Minister for energy and natural resources but was expelled from ANAP in 1997, upon which he joined the Islamic leaning Fazilet Party which later evolved into the AK Party.

He was Minister of Justice in the first AK Party government (from 2003 to 2007) when as a former ANAP MP he was thought to be one of the leading figures of the AK Party most acceptable to the Turkish military. He is married, has 3 children.