Word: gul
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...nomination of Abdullah Gul for President has renewed concerns that Turkey could be plunged back into the political crisis that triggered early parliamentary elections last month. That crisis pitched the ruling conservative AK Party led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the staunchly secular military, which rejected the nomination of Gul, the foreign minister, for the largely ceremonial presidency. The military opposed Gul's initial candidacy on the grounds that it represented a violation of Turkey's founding secularist principles - the fact that Gul's wife, a conservative Muslim, wears a headscarf in public represented a symbol of the Turkish state...
...Although Gul is backed by the majority of his party, other AKP nominees may step forward in coming days - including two men who may be less offensive to the military: One is a former Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul; another is a former Minister for Religious Affairs, Mehmet Ali Aydin. Both are considered moderates and both, notably, are married to women who leave their hair uncovered. The largest opposition party, the Nationalist Action Party, or MHP, may also field a candidate...
...Erdogan called the early election in May to reaffirm his mandate after the country's secularist establishment - including its powerful generals - blocked him from appointing Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as President. Gul, whose wife wears an Islamic-style headscarf, was opposed by the secularists because his presidency would remove any checks on the AKP, whom, they fear, harbors a secret agenda to turn Turkey into an Iranian style theocracy. Members of the AKP dismiss those claims, saying they have moved away from early Islamist roots and pointing to a successful five-year track record in office...
...Following the dispute in May when Gul, his nominee for President, was blocked, Erdogan has shown conciliatory signs - fielding a more moderate and centrist list of candidates in these elections, for instance. The next test will be his choice for a presidential candidate. Choosing one the secularists approve of would be a big step toward defusing Turkey's current political tensions. But with such an overwhelming mandate of support, Erdogan may be emboldened even further...
...Musharraf really does take both gloves off in the tribal areas, that will just increase the likelihood of a split in the army, according to Hamid Gul, former head of the powerful Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "The officer's cadre are liberal, secular, they come from the elite classes. But the rank and file of the army were never secular, they were always religious," says Gul. "If there is a face-off between the army and people, the leadership may lose control of the army. The army does not feel happy. They are from the same streets...