Gul drops Turkey presidential bid
ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has withdrawn from the race to be Turkey's president after supporters were unable to gather the necessary two-thirds quorum in the parliament for a vote on his candidacy.
The parliament's speaker twice counted heads in the chamber Sunday but each time announced it was just eight members short of the needed 367 for a quorum.
It is the second time parliament has been unable to vote on Gul, due to a boycott by opposition parties.
Turkey's Constitutional Court declared the first vote held on April 27 void because a two-thirds quorum was not present for the balloting.
Gul, a member of the ruling AK Party and the only candidate being considered, indicated he was no longer a candidate as he left the parliament building Sunday.
The parliament is expected to consider changing the constitutional process to allow Turkish voters, instead of parliament, to choose the president.
Although the post is largely ceremonial, the president can veto legislation and the office has been a stronghold for secularists.
Because of the stalemate in parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for early general elections. Now, Turkish voters are set to vote in July for a new parliament.
The crisis reflects the rapidly growing fears among Turkish secularists that choosing Gul as president would harm the country's secular system, which has been designed since 1923 to keep Islam out of public life.
Despite its secular system, Turkey has a predominantly Muslim population and is ruled by the democratically elected AK Party, a movement with Islamist roots.
The party -- which has supported issues associated with Muslim rights -- says it is modern and has moved beyond its Islamist past. It also says it has done more than any other government to introduce Western reforms to the country.
But many secularists believe the party is an Islamist wolf in sheep's clothing, a movement that seeks to destroy the secular system.
Erdogan's ruling party, an advocate of European Union membership, rejects the label of Islamist and has done more than any other government to introduce Western reforms to the country.
On Saturday, more than 10,000 Turks gathered in the cities of Canakkale and Manisa, in western Turkey, to protest the Islamic-rooted government, calling for Turkey's secular system to be preserved.
They followed pro-secular demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul that were attended by more than a million people.
CNN's Paula Hancocks in Ankara contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
The parliament's speaker twice counted heads in the chamber Sunday but each time announced it was just eight members short of the needed 367 for a quorum.
It is the second time parliament has been unable to vote on Gul, due to a boycott by opposition parties.
Turkey's Constitutional Court declared the first vote held on April 27 void because a two-thirds quorum was not present for the balloting.
Gul, a member of the ruling AK Party and the only candidate being considered, indicated he was no longer a candidate as he left the parliament building Sunday.
The parliament is expected to consider changing the constitutional process to allow Turkish voters, instead of parliament, to choose the president.
Although the post is largely ceremonial, the president can veto legislation and the office has been a stronghold for secularists.
Because of the stalemate in parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for early general elections. Now, Turkish voters are set to vote in July for a new parliament.
The crisis reflects the rapidly growing fears among Turkish secularists that choosing Gul as president would harm the country's secular system, which has been designed since 1923 to keep Islam out of public life.
Despite its secular system, Turkey has a predominantly Muslim population and is ruled by the democratically elected AK Party, a movement with Islamist roots.
The party -- which has supported issues associated with Muslim rights -- says it is modern and has moved beyond its Islamist past. It also says it has done more than any other government to introduce Western reforms to the country.
But many secularists believe the party is an Islamist wolf in sheep's clothing, a movement that seeks to destroy the secular system.
Erdogan's ruling party, an advocate of European Union membership, rejects the label of Islamist and has done more than any other government to introduce Western reforms to the country.
On Saturday, more than 10,000 Turks gathered in the cities of Canakkale and Manisa, in western Turkey, to protest the Islamic-rooted government, calling for Turkey's secular system to be preserved.
They followed pro-secular demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul that were attended by more than a million people.
CNN's Paula Hancocks in Ankara contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
This informations is copied from www.cnn.com
posted by mhai @ 9:49 AM
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