Obama congratulates Erdogan on election victory (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday and congratulated him on his election victory, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Obama called Erdogan, the winner in Turkey's legislative elections on Sunday, from Air Force One on a flight from Miami to Puerto Rico, Carney told reporters traveling with the president.

"The president not long ago finished a phone call with Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey," Carney said.

"He called to congratulate the prime minister on his party's victory in the parliamentary elections."

Erdogan has vowed to seek compromise with the opposition after his party won a thumping election victory, but fell short of the majority needed to overhaul the constitution.

The Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 49.9 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results, its best electoral performance yet and the first time any party has won a third straight term in power while improving its support.

But the AKP, in power since 2002, fell just four seats short of the 330-seat majority it was seeking in the 550-member parliament to press ahead with a major constitutional overhaul without the support of other parties.