Controversial Turkish foreign minister Gul relaunches presidential bid

Last Thursday, outgoing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a staunch secularist who has rejected numerous AKP candidates in the past, surprised the party by leaving approval of a new cabinet – without looking at the list – to the new president. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the step a positive "gesture" by Mr. Sezer, ceding authority to his successor, though some interpreted it as a rejection outright of the AKP cabinet.

Gul bristles Turkey's secularists

The choice of Gul is still raising hackles. The main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), lost seats in parliament, but was able to stymie the first Gul bid by boycotting the vote and ensuring lack of a quorum.

The CHP said it will boycott the presidential vote, and its top officials warned that a Gul presidency will hasten the "degeneration of Turkey into a theocratic state" and put the regime "at risk." The CHP also vows to boycott the presidential palace if Gul wins.

But another nationalist party, which returned to parliament after a five-year hiatus, says it will take part in the first round of voting Monday. If Gul is not elected in the first two rounds that require two-thirds support, he will almost certainly win on the third round, which requires only a simple majority – a low hurdle for the AKP, which holds 341 seats in the 550-seat house.

Some analysts expected the AKP to choose a different candidate more acceptable to the military and secular elite, especially after Mr. Erdogan heralded the election result with pledges of "compromise."

But the election, which was held early because of the political crisis, was seen by many voters as a referendum on the Gul candidacy. Gul said the decision to run again – despite the likelihood of more tension with nationalists and the military – recognized "support seen from the masses" such that he was "keeping a promise made to the people."

Indeed, Gul often campaigned with the popular premier Erdogan, eliciting cheers whenever he mentioned his bid for the presidency – a post that has long been a secular bastion in Turkey.

"I know you are here because they blocked the presidential election," Gul boomed over an election rally in the eastern city of Diyarbakir in June. "This crowd would have something to say about the presidential election."

Such support was proven to be much more widely spread than the views of flag-waving nationalists who vowed at their spring rallies that Gul's presence in the Cankaya presidential palace would prompt street violence and even a march on Cankaya to unseat him.

The military "are not [just] disappointed, they are shocked. They got a strong slap on their faces and it's better for them now to keep silent [or the negative] reaction will be much stronger by the people," says Bagci. "Turks love the military, but don't like to live under a military regime," he adds, paraphrasing a former Turkish minister.

Promising that his "goal will be to rise to the level of modern civilization that [founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk foresaw," Gul says he will reinvigorate stalled Turkish efforts to join the EU.

Page: 1 | 2