Moderate elected Turkish speaker

Mr Toptan secured crucial support from secularist deputies

A moderate conservative from Turkey's ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party, Koksal Toptan, has been elected parliament speaker by a huge majority.

Unlike many AKP (Justice and Development Party) deputies, he does not have an Islamist past and his wife does not wear an Islamic headscarf.

In terms of protocol, Mr Toptan now occupies Turkey's second-highest post.

Correspondents say his nomination was a concession to Turkey's powerful secular elite, including the military.

Mr Toptan, 64, served as an education and culture minister in previous conservative governments, before joining the AKP.

He was elected speaker with 450 deputies' votes, while 74 voted for his rival in the 550-seat parliament. Eleven votes were ruled invalid.

Mr Toptan's first job will be to preside over the election of a new president.

Back in May, an attempt by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to have his Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul elected president plunged Turkey into early general elections, from which Mr Erdogan emerged as the clear victor.

Mr Erdogan now has to decide whether to nominate Mr Gul again and risk more confrontation with secularists who are suspicious of the AKP's agenda.