The contest to become Turkey's next president moved into a decisive phase yesterday amid evidence of growing unease in secular circles about the possibility that the country's neo-Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would seek and win the post.
Mr Erdogan, Turkey's most openly devout Muslim prime minister in 20 years, has not yet said whether he will seek the nomination of his ruling Justice and Development party. His indecision is starting to paralyse the political landscape, overshadowing the more important general election that Turkey must hold by November.
The outgoing president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, has convened a meeting of the National Security Council for April 10, six days before the formal process of electing a new president begins. According to Murat Yetkin, a columnist for Radikal newspaper, Mr Sezer wants the council, an important policy-setting forum, to discuss the likely impact of Mr Erdogan's presidency on Turkey's secular constitutional system.
Economists at Raymond James Securities in Istanbul said this week the speculation about Mr Erdogan's candidacy had "raised the stakes" in the presidential contest by clouding his party's prospects in the general election. He would almost certainly be elected by parliament if he decided to stand, and would have to stand down as party leader.
The prime minister began talks with senior party figures yesterday. The move coincided with a poll in an anti-government newspaper suggesting that a large majority of the population did not want him to become president. Much of the secular establishment, including the military, is said to be opposed to his candidacy.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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