TODAY.AZ / Politics

Turkish military says next president must be loyal to secular principles

13 April 2007 [11:17] - TODAY.AZ
Turkey's secularists, led by the military, fear that if Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan — or someone close to him — wins the presidency next month, the government will be able to implement an Islamic agenda without opposition.

"As a citizen and as a member of the armed forces, we hope that someone who is loyal to the principles of the republic — not just in words but in essence — is elected president," Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, the military chief of staff, told a televised news conference in the first comment by the military on the upcoming presidential elections.

"The president who will be elected will also be the top commander of the Turkish armed forces," Buyukanit said. "I carry the hope that someone with such attributes will be chosen."

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's seven-year term ends May 16. Parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers from Erdogan's party, will elect the new president early next month.

The prime minister has not yet said whether he will stand. His party was expected to announce its candidates for the position this month.

The military commands widespread respect in Turkey, however, and Buyukanit's comments were clearly intended to persuade Erdogan not to stand.

At a rally in Ankara planned for Saturday, thousands are expected to march to the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey, to protest the idea of an "Islamist" taking over the post.

"Erdogan was told in very polite and diplomatic language not to become president," said Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst with the Economic Policy Research Institute in Ankara.

The position of president is largely ceremonial, but the head of state has powers to block legislation and makes key appointments. In the absence of a strong opposition, Sezer has blocked a record number of government-proposed bills he viewed as threatening Turkey's secular foundations as well as the appointment of several officials. Many were rejected for alleged Islamist tendencies.

Erdogan, 53, denies his party has an Islamic agenda. Since coming to power in 2002, his government has promoted Turkey's European Union membership bid, which resulted in the start of accession talks in October 2005.

The army is nevertheless suspicious of Erdogan because of his Islamic past. In 1999, Erdogan spent four months in prison for reading a poem at a political rally which the courts deemed to be inciting religious hatred.

The military, which regards itself the guardian of Turkey's secular values, has staged three coups since the 1960s and has remained influential after ceding control to civilian governments. In 1997, the military led a campaign that pressured an Islamic government — which Erdogan belonged to — out of power for what they saw as an excessive Islamist bent. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/39334.html

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