Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Alizade / The first round of voting for the 11th Presidential elections has already taken place in the Supreme National Assembly of Turkey. As a result of the elections which were attended by 448 parliamentarians, the candidate from the ruling Justice and Development Party, Foreign Minister, Abdulla Gul, won 341 votes: 367 votes are required for victory in the first round. Gul was not elected.
The representative of MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), former Defense Minister, Sabahaddin Chakmakoglu, won 70 votes and the candidate from DSP (Democratic Left Party), Huseyn Tayfun Ichli won 13 votes. Twenty-three parliamentarians refused to vote. They considered the ballot to be invalid. The second round of presidential elections will take place on 24 August.