Turkish candidate pledges loyalty to secular principles

The Associated Press Published: April 26, 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey: Turkey's presidential front-runner promised to uphold secular principles despite the doubts of skeptics, ahead of the start of voting Friday that highlights tensions between the defenders of secularism and the Islamic-rooted government.
"I am loyal to the republic, to secularism, to the principles of a democratic, social state ruled by law, as stated in the Constitution in essence," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in an interview published Thursday in the Milliyet newspaper.
The comment echoed a recent statement by military chief Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, a guardian of the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution. He had said the president must be loyal to secularism "not just in words, but in essence."
As the ruling party candidate, Gul is almost certain to win the presidency in a series of parliamentary votes that begin Friday — a prospect that has unnerved the country's secular establishment. Hundreds of thousands of people recently demonstrated for secular ideals in the capital of Ankara, and another large rally was planned in Istanbul on Sunday.
"I tried to understand them," Gul said of the demonstrators. "If they have concerns, doubts, my job is to remove those concerns. That will be my duty if I am elected president. I will strive to be the president of all citizens no matter their point of view."
Gul also told Sabah newspaper that he was committed to a strong democracy, economy and military.
The military has largely shunned the public debate, indicating Turkish democracy is on a more secure footing than in coup-prone days of the past.
Gul courted opposition and independent lawmakers, urging them to thwart plans by the main opposition group to boycott the election. Although the ruling party has supported religious schools and tried to lift the ban on Islamic head scarves in public offices, Gul has insisted he will respect the secular traditions enshrined in Turkey's constitution.
Current President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vigorously used his powers as a check on the government, vetoing a record number of legislative bills and appointments of officials deemed to be supporters of an Islamic agenda.
Gul is a close ally of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the presidency would complete their lock on political power ahead of general elections planned for November.
"Gul cannot be expected to play the role of Sezer in issuing warnings or putting on brakes," columnist Turker Alkan wrote in the Radikal newspaper.
The leaders of two small parties urged the government to hold early general elections and let a newly formed Parliament elect the president, saying the credibility of the political process was at stake and there was too much tension.
"Turkey has come to a point where it is open to provocations," Motherland Party leader Erkan Mumcu said at a news conference with the head of the True Path Party, Mehmet Agar.
The military, at least in public, has left the political wrangling to the civilians. It military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured a pro-Islamic premier — Erdogan's mentor — out of power in 1997. Any overt attempt to intervene in this process could have a devastating effect on the economy and on the NATO member's efforts to reform society as it vies for European Union membership.
If elected, Gul will chair bimonthly National Security Council meetings, which gather the military's top brass and some Cabinet members to discuss key concerns, including homegrown threats from radical Islamic circles.
Gul's wife, Hayrunisa, wears the traditional Muslim head scarf, and secularists dislike the idea of such a religious symbol being worn in the presidential palace.
But both he and Erdogan have rejected the Islamic label. The government has shown openness to the West by securing economic stability with help from the International Monetary Fund, and seeking EU membership.
The ruling party has a majority of more than 60 percent in parliament. But the main opposition Republican People's Party — with 152 seats — said it would boycott the first round of voting. It said it would ask the Constitutional Court to cancel the vote if it proceeds without two-thirds of lawmakers present — a move that could force early general elections.
The ruling party insists only one-third of lawmakers must attend the first round.