Turkish parliamentary committee approves July 22 elections

constitutional committee also approves proposal for amendment that would lower minimum age for candidates to 25, from 30.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Abdullah Gul 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Abdullah Gul 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A parliamentary committee on Wednesday approved a proposal to hold general elections early on July 22 in Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suggested holding the early elections, on June 24, as a way out of a political crisis. But Turkey's electoral board, which sets the date and oversees elections, proposed July 22. Parliament's constitutional committee approved the date in a meeting late Wednesday. The proposal is expected to be approved by the general assembly, most probably on Thursday. "We have established that we can hold elections on July 22," at the earliest, the state-run Anatolia news agency quoted board chairman Muammer Aydin as saying. The constitutional committee on Wednesday also approved a proposal for an amendment that would lower the minimum age for candidates to 25, from 30. It was not immediately clear when that proposal would be debated in the general assembly.