TURKEY: The ruling AK Party chooses Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as its presidential candidate

Record ID: 217413

  • Title: TURKEY: The ruling AK Party chooses Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as its presidential candidate
  • Date: 25th April 2007
  • Summary: (EU) ANKARA, TURKEY (APRIL 24, 2007) (REUTERS) AK PARTY LAWMAKERS CHEERING AND APPLAUDING LAWMAKERS CHANTING "TURKEY IS PROUD OF YOU!" (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "After intensive research and evaluations one name came forward as the candidate for the 11th president. He is the one with whom we planned and realised this movement . My
  • Embargoed: 10th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3ZRBJK8YO12NKDIX5VG76YFAZ
  • Story Text: Turkey's ruling AK Party choose reformist Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as its presidential candidate on Tuesday (April 24) in a move which could ease tension with the army and boost the Islamist-rooted party's electoral chances.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had come under intense pressure from the secular elite, which includes army generals and judges, not to run for president himself because of fears he would undermine the republic's separation of state and religion.
    By standing aside, Erdogan, Turkey's most popular politician, can focus on preparing and campaigning for parliamentary elections that must be held by November.
    "After intensive research and evaluations one name came forward as the candidate for the eleventh president. He is the one with whom we planned and realised this movement . My brother, Abdullah Gul," said Erdogan in the hall packed with cheering lawmakers.
    Gul, a close ally of Erdogan's, pledged that if elected he would act in line with the country's basic secular principles -- established by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
    "I will act as in accordance with the constitution that the president symbolises unity of the Turkish republic," he told a news conference.
    Gul is certain to be elected through a series of votes due to start on April 27, given the party's majority in parliament.
    Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party said it will not join the election and will appeal to the court if fewer than two-thirds of the lawmakers took part in Tuesday's vote.
    Gul is a respected diplomat who has overseen the launch of European Union accession talks as foreign minister and was briefly prime minister when the party came to power in 2002.
    Gul's appointment may still stir some concern in the army, which has removed four governments in the past 50 years. His wife wears the Islamic headscarf, a potential source of tension with Turkey's secularists, and he has an Islamist background.
    In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can veto laws, veto appointments of officials and appoint judges. As successor to Ataturk, the president carries great moral weight.
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