GERMAN FM CONSIDERS TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ABDULLAH GUL A RELIABLE PARTNER
PanARMENIAN.Net
03.05.2007 14:30 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament
approved the new schedule of presidentiasl elections May 2. The first
stage of elections is scheduled for May 6 and the further stages
will be held on May 9, 12 and 15. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan stated he will insist on holding early parliamentarian election
on June 24. However the Central Electoral Commission of the country
offered another date – July 22. Premier Erdoðan is going to reach
amendments into the Organic Law. Particularly he offers to elect the
president by a national vote and not by the parliament.
Yesterday the Turkish Constitutional Court declared invalid results
of the first stage of presidential elections, which was held last
Friday. The presidential candidate is moderate Islamist Abdullah Gul,
whose candidature was offered by current Prime Minister Erdoðan. Gul
could not gather the necessary number of votes. Gul is a representative
of the ruling Justice and Development pro-Islamic party. Up to this
moment he occupied the post of Foreign Minister.
High military commanders "blocked" the way of Gul’s victory in the
presidential elections. The Turkish army, which is considered the
main bases for secular state, threatened the Prime Minister with a
coup if his ally in the party will become Turkey’s 11th president. The
Constitutional Court ruled that the elections "fall short of demands
of the Organic Law", since there was only one candidate. But actually
the second candidate – representative from the ruling party Ersonmez
Yarbay willingly withdrew his candidature.
Now only one question worries everyone; what an end will have the
dispute between commanders and moderate Islamists and if this conflict
will result in a military coup like in 1960, 1971 and 1980.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated it is necessary
to support Turkey on his way to the EU. He called presidential
candidate Abdullah Gul a reliable partner, Deutsche Welle reports.
–Boundary_(ID_W/heeGt/xj3nEpdGYqLr6w)–