Word: gul
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Always a key behind-the-scenes force in domestic politics, Turkey's military has gotten more involved in governmental affairs recently. Last month it warned of possible intervention if Erdogan posted foreign minister Abdullah Gul, a devout Muslim, as Turkey's next president, citing doubts over his secularist credentials. The ensuing crisis forced the government to back down and call early elections, now scheduled for July...
...With elections now looming, it's not clear how the political stalemate will be resolved. The AKP, sounding a note of defiance, hopes to strengthen its majority to the point where it can vote in Gul on its own. The opposition-and the army-is betting that voters will shy away from the perceived Islamist threat and force a coalition of some sort. Both outcomes are possible. But if the AKP returns to office more powerful than before, the army may feel compelled to act again, this time by taking to the streets. Either way, the campaign is likely...
...Much of this mess could have been averted. The AKP could have nominated someone else for President, such as the innocuous Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, whom secularists view with less trepidation than Gul. The military could have stayed out of politics. And the secularist opposition could have refrained from trying to short-circuit the democratic process with the help of a dubious, last-minute legal gambit...
...military wielded still greater powers than it does today-powers that diminished, thanks to E.U.-mandated democratic reforms. After the military made its announcement on Friday, the government argued forcefully that the military had no right to interfere. "There can be no question of my candidacy being withdrawn," said Gul. Such boldness would have been unthinkable a decade ago for fear of immediate military retribution. The same is true of Sunday's massive popular demonstration in Istanbul, which took aim not only at the AKP and fears of creeping Islamicization but also, notably, at the military and its undemocratic intervention...
...democratically elected government. The protest was part of a larger revolt by Turkey's "secular establishment," which includes the army and parts of the judiciary, against a political party that has been in power for five years. The ostensible reason was that the ruling party nominated Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a conservative Muslim, for President. But by attacking Gul, the country's urban élite runs the risk of undermining some of the same secular principles--like democracy--they are trying to defend. What happens next is unclear: a court ruling in favor of the secularists annulled the presidential nomination...