Ankara - The Turkish parliament elected Wednesday a new speaker in its third round of voting, choosing veteran politician Mehmet Ali Sahin for the two-year position.

Sahin, 58, of the ruling Justice and Development Party AKP, got 338 ballots in the voting by 518 deputies, well ahead of his closest rival Ilhan Kesici of the opposition Republican Peoples Party CHP, with 103 votes.

Sahin becomes the 30th speaker of parliament. He is the AKP's representative from the city of Antalya and a veteran politician who had previously served in such postss as as Turkey's justice minister, as a minister of state, and as parliamentary deputy from Istanbul. (dpa)