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Turkey: Gul to run for president, again
14.8.2007 |
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August
14, 2007
ANKARA, -- Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul, a former Islamist, announced Tuesday he will
stand again for the presidency, risking a fresh
government showdown with army-backed secularist
forces.
"My presidential candidacy is supported by my
colleagues" in Turkey's Islamist-rooted ruling
party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Gul
told reporters.
He was speaking after a meeting with leaders of the
right-wing opposition Nationalist Action Party (MHP)
aimed at drumming up support for his bid when
parliament votes on the next head of state later
this month.
"I explained to them how I will act if parliament
elects me as president," Gul said, adding that he
was planning to meet with other opposition parties. |
Turkey Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül |
The AKP decided late Monday to re-nominate Gul,
whose candidacy earlier this year had plunged Turkey
into political turmoil and prompted snap legislative
elections.
The polls handed the AKP a solid parliamentary
majority that can easily secure Gul's election.
His nomination in April had prompted an opposition
boycott as well as a warning from the military that
it stood ready to protect the Muslim country's
secular system.
Millions of Turks demonstrated against the prospect
of a president from the AKP, the conservative
offshoot of a now-banned Islamist party which
secularists accuse of harbouring Islamist ambitions.
Hardline secularists also hate the idea of a veiled
first lady -- Gul's wife wears the Islamic headscarf
which they see as a symbol of political Islam.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to
call early elections on July 22, in which his party
won a strong second five-year mandate with 46.58
percent of the vote.
Gul portrayed the AKP's victory as a popular
vindication of his presidential bid, but opposition
to the foreign minister's candidacy remains strong.
"If Gul is elected, Turkey's political balances will
change... Turkey will be transformed into a country
with an overbearing religious and Middle Eastern
identity," Deniz Baykal, head of the main opposition
Republican People's Party, was quoted as saying in
the Radikal newspaper.
"The headscarf is on its way to the presidential
palace," the secularist Cumhuriyet daily warned.
Other newspapers argued that the election result had
legitimised the AKP nominee.
"Half of this country has approved Gul's presidency
and the other half must respect that," the popular
Vatan wrote.
"No matter how upset we may be seeing Mrs. Gul in
the presidential palace, the essential thing is how
Mr. Gul does his job," it added.
The first round of voting is scheduled for August
20, the second for August 24, the third for August
28 and the final and fourth round for September 1.
Candidates can apply until midnight August 19.
In the first two rounds, a candidate requires a
two-thirds majority, or 367 votes, to be elected.
With 341 seats in the 550-member house, the AKP can
be sure of electing Gul on the third ballot when an
absolute majority of 276 votes is required.
The MHP, which returned to parliament with 70 MPs
after a five-year absence, has promised not to
boycott the sessions, a move that eradicates the
risk of parliament failing again to reach the quorum
required to hold a vote.
The AKP dismisses charges that it has a secret
Islamist agenda as "fear-mongering" by opponents who
have failed to stop its rise.
The party has pledged commitment to secularism and
carried out reforms that led to strong economic
growth and ensured the start of membership talks
with the European Union.
But the AKP has kept suspicions alive with its
opposition to a headscarf ban in universities and
public offices, encouragement of religious schools
and failed attempts to restrict alcohol sales and
make adultery a jailable offense.
AFP
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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