Talking Turkey...

From MSNBC:

Turkey’s highest court on Tuesday annulled a presidential vote dominated by concerns over the rising profile of political Islam, opening the way for possible early general elections.
The court upheld an appeal from the secularist opposition that wants to stop the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party’s presidential candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, from becoming head of state.

“A decision was taken to stop the process,” Hasim Kilic, deputy head of the top court, told a news conference. The court’s rulings are binding and cannot be appealed against.

Turkish lira rebounds on the news.

Earlier, riot police beat and detained hundreds of May Day protesters in Istanbul.

Police detained 700 people in Istanbul in street battles with leftist demonstrators protesting on the May Day anniversary of a mass shooting 30 years ago by unknown gunmen. Riot police fired tear gas and used water canons to break up the crowds. Youths threw Molotov cocktails and set cars ablaze.