Turkey's Christians face backlash
Several recent murders have confronted Turkey's growing ranks of Christian evangelicals.
from the April 25, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Turkey's evangelists, meanwhile, say they would like to see the government take a more proactive approach against the antimissionary rhetoric and violence.
"Our congregation is used to this kind of thing, maybe not of this magnitude, but we have no fear," says Ahmet Guvener, the Diyarbakir Evangelical Church's gray-haired leader. "We are keeping our trust in God."
Turkey's prime minister says he won't run for president
ISTANBUL – Ending months of tense speculation, Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Tuesday that he will not be a presidential candidate in the election this November. Instead, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will run for the position.
Mr. Erdogan's liberal Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds a strong majority in Turkey's parliament, making Mr. Gul a virtual shoo-in for the presidency.
Although Erdogan holds more power as prime minister, as president he would have taken on what is in many ways a more prestigious position.
Seen by many Turks as the guardian of the country's secular system, the president can veto laws, and appoint key officials. He is also commander in chief of the armed forces.
The possibility of a devout politician like Erdogan taking on that guardianship role had roiled Turkey's secular establishment, which feared that he would harm the country's delicate balance between religion and state. Analysts say that by choosing the affable Gul, one of the AKP's cofounders, Erdogan has helped to ease the mounting tensions in Turkey.
"I think a lot of people are relieved. Gul is at least perceived to be less ideologically Islamic than Erdogan," says Suat Kiniklioglu, executive director of the German Marshall Fund's office in Turkey. "It was known that the establishment and military preferred him over Erdogan."
Still, Gul's candidacy does leave room for conflict. His wife, like Erdogan's, wears the Islamic head scarf, a powerful symbol that is certain to inflame many die-hard secularists. Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), has already indicated that it might boycott the presidential elections in an effort to force a showdown over the election's legitimacy.
"His mind-set is no different from Erdogan's," Mustafa Ozyurek, deputy chairman of the CHP, told the Associated Press. "There is no evidence that he is sincerely loyal at heart to the secular republic and principles of [Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk."
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