Ismail Kahraman reelected as Turkish parliament speaker

Turkish parliament on Monday reelected Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker Ismail Kahraman as speaker on Monday.

He received 289 votes in the third round of voting by the Grand National Assembly of 550 seats.

Kahraman, a veteran Justice and Development (AK) Party's member from Rize province, holds the second highest position in the home province of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He previously served at the labor and culture ministries as undersecretary and minister, respectively.

He was a culture minister between 1996 and 1997 and previously a deputy in Turkey's 20th and 21st parliaments.

Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Zekeriya Temizel got 124 votes, while Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) candidate Celal Adan received 36 votes.

The candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selma Irmak, who was sentenced on Nov. 3 to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges, bagged 37 votes.

Good Party candidate Yusuf Halacoglu got seven votes.

AK Party holds 316 seats, CHP 131, HDP 54, MHP 36 and Good Party have 5 seats in the parliament.

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 was needed.