Turkey's president says Islamist threat to secular establishment at highest level / istanbul-bilbao

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's staunchly pro-secular president said Friday that the threat Islamic fundamentalism poses to the country's secular establishment has reached its highest level — a warning directed at the Islamic-rooted prime minister, who may stand to replace him in May.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was addressing officers of the country's military, the self-appointed guarantor of the secular regime, in one of his last speeches before he steps down as president.
"For the first time, the pillars of the secular republic are being openly questioned," private NTV television quoted Sezer as saying during a speech at the War Academies in Istanbul.
He appeared to be referring to members of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party who have questioned the definition of secularism.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul disagreed with Sezer.

"I don't think the regime is in danger," Gul told reporters in an apparent response to Sezer's comments.
Sezer argued that internal and external powers were working together with the aim of changing the regime.
"Foreign powers want to transform Turkey into a moderate Islamic republic," Sezer said without elaborating.
His words appeared to be aimed at Erdogan's government and against the European Union, which has been pressuring Turkey into curbing the pro-secular military's powers.
Turkey's secularists fear that if Erdogan — or someone close to him — wins the presidency next month, the government will be able to implement an Islamic agenda without opposition.
Sezer's seven-year term ends May 16. Parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers from Erdogan's party, will elect the new president early next month.
The prime minister has not yet said whether he will stand. His party was expected to announce its candidates for the position this month.
"As a citizen and as a member of the armed forces, we hope that someone who is loyal to the principles of the republic — not just in words but in essence — is elected president," Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the military, said Thursday.
Buyukanit's words were widely interpreted as a warning to Erdogan not to run.
The military views itself as the protector of Turkey's secular identity. The fiercely secular generals have staged three coups between 1960 and 1980, and in 1997 led a campaign that pressured a pro-Islamic government out of power.
The EU has repeatedly called on Turkey to limit the role of the military in state affairs.
At a rally in Ankara planned for Saturday, tens of thousands are expected to march to the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey, to protest the idea of an "Islamist" taking over the post.
Sezer spoke of increased measures that were "rolling back" the gains of the secular republic, and said these were increasing tension in the country.
"The appointment of Islamic-minded officials to state positions is enough to understand where Turkey is being taken to," Sezer said.
Erdogan's government denies it has an Islamic agenda, but pro-secular Turks say the government is slowly moving the country toward increased religious rule.
Since taking power, Erdogan showed his commitment to future European Union membership by enacting sweeping reforms that allowed the country to start accession talks in 2005.
But he has also stoked secularist concerns by speaking out against restrictions on wearing Islamic-style head scarves in government offices and schools and taking steps to bolster religious schools. He tried to criminalize adultery before being forced to back down under intense EU pressure. Some party-run municipalities have taken steps to ban alcohol consumption.
Although largely ceremonial, the presidency has become a symbol for secularism under Sezer.
A former Constitutional Court judge, Sezer has vetoed a record number of laws he deemed to be in violation of the secular constitution and has blocked government efforts to appoint hundreds of reportedly Islamic-oriented candidates to important civil service positions.

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