New president has Turkey holding
its breath By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL - Overriding concerns by the
ever-watchful military and the secularists,
Turkey's Parliament on Tuesday elected Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul as the first Islamic-rooted
president of the 83-year-old republic.
Along with him, Turkey also gets a first
lady, Hayrunnisa Gul, who may wear the Islamic
headscarf as the official hostess at the Cankaya
Palace. The presidential palace has so far banned such
attire.
Gul, whose
candidacy put up by his ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) in April sparked military
and secularist opposition, and led to early
parliamentary elections on July 22, received 339
votes from the 448 deputies who voted, way above
the 276 needed.
Gul won in the third round
of voting, when only a simple majority of the
550-member Parliament was needed. He failed to
obtain the required 367 votes, or two-thirds
majority, in earlier rounds.
The election
of Gul, a former member of banned Islamist parties
who now vows allegiance to the secular
constitution, was a setback for the military and
secularists who say Gul and his AKP may still have
an Islamist agenda for Turkey, which is a North
Atlantic Treaty Organization member and an
official candidate for full European Union
membership.
Through a midnight
announcement on its website in what came to be
called an "e-warning", the military opposed Gul's
candidacy on April 27, the day he was picked by
his party. The military asked for "deeds, not just
words" in upholding the secular constitution.
The crisis that followed led to elections
where Gul's candidacy became a major campaign
issue. In a sharp rebuff to the military, since
dubbed an "e [election]-response", the electorate
returned the Islamic-rooted AKP to power. The
party upped its vote total from 34% to 47%.
The military, which has overturned four
governments since 1950, abstained from any comment
after Gul's triumph. It had issued another
statement on the eve of the parliamentary vote to
warn against continuing religious activities -
without naming Gul or his party.
More
significant, the military brass did not attend the
swearing-in ceremony of Gul as the 11th president
of the Turkish republic. The president is also
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, even if
nominally.
"The military couldn't
influence the parliamentary or presidential
elections, but it will watch, as it always does,
and could get involved if Gul or the ruling party
veers toward an Islamic agenda," said Olcay Celik,
an Istanbul resident.
Turkey's
constitution empowers the military to defend the
country from both external and internal threats.
But the constitution may be changed, since the
AKP, which now controls Parliament, the government
and the presidency, has plans for a new "civilian"
constitution.
Gul, 57, an economist by
education - with a stint at an Islamic bank in
Saudi Arabia - is known to be soft-spoken and
temperate, in sharp contrast to the vocal and
argumentative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
leader of the AKP.
Fluent in English and
Arabic besides Turkish, Gul has been a deputy
since 1991. He was a member of now-defunct
Islamist parties before joining Erdogan to form
the AKP in 2001. He portrayed it as a
"conservative" party, and rejected labels such as
"Muslim democrats".
Gul married Hayrunnisa
when she was only 15 and he was 30. Her head
attire is a matter of controversy, since Islamic
headgear is banned in public offices and
universities. Any woman wearing it has been left
out of official receptions at the presidential
palace. Now she has to host them - and it's still
up in the air whether the military or the
opposition Republican People's Party would attend
a reception that she may host in a headscarf.
The Turkish media have carried reports
that Gul's wife may actually bare her hair at some
receptions, or wear a partial headscarf. Gul's
daughter circumvented rules preventing headscarves
at universities by wearing a wig over her
headscarf.
Hayrunnisa Gul took the Turkish
state to the European Human Rights Tribunal
claiming that her freedom to wear the attire of
her choice was denied, but she dropped the action
when her husband became foreign minister.
After taking the oath of office, Abdullah
Gul said his election had "strengthened democracy"
in Turkey. He vowed to "embrace all" and be
"neutral" as opposed to being a party man. He
characterized Turkey as "a democratic, secular
state based on the rule of law".
But there
are lingering doubts. "I have yet to see that he
has changed except in words. I'm still
suspicious," said Gulsun Zeytinoglu, a women's
rights activist and former board member of the
Women's Entrepreneurs Association.
As
president, Gul will have largely ceremonial
functions and limited powers compared with the
prime minister. But he still designates prime
ministers, approves or vetoes parliamentary
statutes and appointments to key executive posts,
and names university rectors.
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