Turkey's main opposition leader called for an emergency session of parliament as thousands demonstrated in Istanbul and other cities Tuesday after the national elections board barred 12 mainly Kurdish candidates from upcoming parliamentary elections, dpa reported.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), urged the Turkish Parliament - which closed last week for the duration of the campaign period - to reconvene and debate a lowering of the electoral threshold for political parties.
Turkey's 10 per cent threshold has long been criticized for preventing smaller political parties, including Kurdish parties, from entering parliament.
The parliamentary election takes place in June.