ANKARA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Tuesday night that the government would apply to the parliament on Wednesday morning to predate the general elections.

    Speaking at a press conference, Erdogan said that he would seek early legislative elections as early as June 24 after the country's top court annulled a parliamentary vote to elect the next president.

    "For us, the election date could be June 24 or July 1 because those are the earliest possible dates," he told the reporters after a meeting of his Justice and Development Party's (AKP)leadership.

    Legislative elections are currently set for November 4.

    In the first round of the presidential voting On Friday, the only candidate, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul who was nominated by the ruling AKP party, received 357 votes, 10 votes short of the 367 majority required in the 550-seat parliament.

    A total of 361 MPs cast their votes in the first round of elections at the chamber. Three votes were invalid and one vote was vacant.

    Afterwards, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP),which decided to boycott the voting, applied Friday to the Constitutional Court to cancel the election since the parliament convened with less than 367 lawmakers to elect the president.

    Constitutional Court's deputy chief judge Hasim Kilic announced earlier on Tuesday that the court had cancelled the first round of vote for the president because the requirement of a quorum of 367was not reached, adding it meant that the second round could not be held and the first round had to be repeated.

    In response to the court's ruling, Erdogan said, "From the very beginning, we have stressed that we are loyal to the constitutional and democratic processes, and we will respect the court's decision."

    The presidential election rounds will continue as of Thursday and "we will see the consequence of the first round, and make an assessment," he said.

    If the parliament fails to elect the new president, we will take the issue before the public, he said, adding that the failure will pave the way for the election of the president by popular vote.

    The premier further explained that "parliamentary democratic system has been blocked. We will apply to the people to remove that blockade and to put an end to domination of the minority over the majority."

    "The president should be elected by people with a two-round election. We are ready to take every step to this end," Erdogan stressed.

    Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gul also called for immediate general elections and immediate constitutional amendment allowing the people to elect the president.

    A shadow has been cast on the presidential election process, he said, adding that "what needs to be done in order to immediately disperse this shadow is to hold general elections at the earliest time and to immediately amend the Constitution to allow the people to elect the president."

    The presidential elections triggered a deep crisis in Turkey, with the military, wary of the AKP which enjoys strong support among Islamic voters.

    Late on Friday, the staunchly secularist Turkish army issued a statement, saying that it was watching with concern the debate over secular system in the presidential elections and would "openly display its position and attitudes when it becomes necessary."

    The Turkish government on Saturday criticized the army's threat to defend the country's secularism by intervening in domestic politics.

Related:

    Turkey's Constitutional Court annuls presidential vote

    ANKARA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Constitutional Court on Tuesday cancelled the first round of presidential vote because the requirement of a quorum of 367 was not reached, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

    Hasim Kilic, deputy chief judge of the court, was quoted assaying that the second round could not be held and the first round had to be repeated.

    Turkey's parliamentary board to hold meeting for repeat of presidential elections

    ANKARA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Parliamentary Consultative Board (PCB) will hold a meeting on Wednesday for the repeat of the first round of the presidential elections, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.

    Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc Tuesday called on the PCB board to hold the meeting at local time 11.00 a.m. (GMT 0800) Wednesday, said the report.