Turkish Parliament Elects Gul as President; Military Warns against ‘Attacks on Secularism’
By Daniel Hollingsworth
August 28, 2007 | Printer Friendly

Bloomberg reports that on August 28, Turkey’s parliament elected Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as Turkey’s first president with an Islamist past, “risking fresh tensions with the army over religion’s role in government.”  Gul received 339 votes, 63 more than the simple majority required, and will be sworn in later in the day to begin his seven-year term as president.  Turkey’s military has called Gul’s ascendance to the presidency a threat to Turkey’s secular and democratic nature, and the Associated Press reports that on August 27, General Yasar Buyukanit issued a statement, warning that “The military will, just as it has so far, keep its determination to guard social, democratic and secular Turkey.”

However, in an August 27 Washington Post op-ed, Jackson Diehl argued that it is the Turkish military and ardent secularists in Turkey’s political establishment that in fact pose the greatest threat to Turkish democracy, while the Islamist-oriented Justice and Development (AK) party of Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demonstrated a commitment to liberal democracy:

“…Erdogan’s government has been one of the most liberal and modernizing regimes in recent Turkish history.  Under Gul’s leadership, it pressed for membership talks with the European Union and in the name of winning them enacted a series of legal and human rights reforms.  Minority Kurds and women won greater rights; the death penalty was abolished.  The economy was liberalized and foreign investment welcomed, touching off a boom that has turned Turkey from a basket case in the International Monetary Fund’s emergency ward to an emerging tiger with annual growth rates over 7 percent.”

Diehl writes that election results from July were a blow to the generals, as AK won nearly 47 percent of the vote compared to 34 percent in the previous election on 2002, calling the result a rejection of military intervention and an embrace of moderate Islam.

References:

Associated Press: Turkey Military: Secularism Under Attack (via Washington Post)

Bloomberg: Gul Is Elected Turkey's President, Risking Army Wrath

Washington Post: Democracy in Action

CCD will continue to monitor developments in Turkey and update this section with the latest news.  For additional information and opinions on developments in Turkey, please see our recent reports:
Turkish Elections Strengthen Ruling AKP Government; New York Times Says Elections Affirm Democracy in Turkey 26 July 2007

Op/Ed Articles in WSJ/LA Times Argue that Turkish Ruling Party Using “Democratic Means to Erode Democracy” 17 May 2007

Update: Turkish Parliament Approves Amendments to Constitution 8 May 2007

Turkish Presidential Candidate Withdraws Bid; Ruling Party Calls for General Elections and Constitutional Amendment 7 May 2007

Turkish Constitutional Court Declares Presidential Vote Invalid; Experts Believe Early Parliamentary Elections Will be Called 1 May 2007

Hundreds of Thousands Protest Islamist Gains in Turkey’s Presidential Elections 30 April 2007