TURKEY:Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister, announced his candidacy yesterday for the post of president for the second time, defying secular and military reservations about the prospect of a man with an Islamist past occupying the job that is seen to embody the secular republic.
When Mr Gul was nominated for the post by the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) in April, a political crisis ensued that resulted in a general election last month, which the government won handsomely.
Circumstances are different now, not least because of the election victory. But the battle lines drawn in the debate about his candidacy will not be relinquished easily in a country seeking to reconcile its secular foundations with the rise of a popular, socially conservative, right-wing party that has roots in political Islam.
Mr Gul (56) was a much- admired foreign minister who steered Turkey's EU membership bid and sought to rebuild a relationship with the US soured by the Iraq war. But his past links to the Islamist Welfare party, which ruled briefly in the late 1990s and was later shut down by the courts, and the fact that his wife wears the Muslim headscarf, raise questions among Turkey's secular parties and some of the public about his credentials for the nation's top civilian post.
Mr Gul denies any intention to weaken Turkey's prized secular political and constitutional system. Speaking after his nomination was confirmed yesterday, he said: "Protection of secularism is one of my basic principles. Nobody should doubt this." Commentators and diplomats say the urbane, well-travelled Mr Gul is eminently qualified to be president. But some wonder whether the AKP's pursuit of the post, symbolically important but ostensibly ceremonial, is worth the trouble of a possible further clash between the government and the military, which could destabilise the financial markets and damage the country's internal stability.
"The government is creating unnecessary tensions by going for Gul," says Cengiz Aktar, an academic and commentator. "You have to wonder why the AKP feels the need for such a heavyweight in the presidential palace."
Mr Gul worked yesterday to secure the support of opposition parties in parliament, where the process of electing him to the presidency is due to begin next week. For the election to be valid, 367 of the chamber's 550 MPs must be present for any vote. If he cannot secure a two-thirds majority in the first two rounds of voting, a simple majority would suffice in the third round in late August. The government has enough MPs to ensure that he would be elected at that point.
Analysts say the military high command, which helped to derail Mr Gul's first candidacy and has ousted four elected governments since 1960, is unlikely to intervene in such a fashion this time. He is the democratic choice of his party and, arguably, of the nation, which gave the AKP nearly 47 per cent of the vote in the July 22nd election. Any intervention would be unpopular with the public.
"The military is on the defensive right now," says Wolfango Piccoli, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in London.