Word: secularists
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...Western commentators often hold up Turkey as a model of democracy and capitalism in the Muslim world. That role as an exemplar is not one that many Turks particularly want, arguing that Turkey's history, geography and secularist traditions - the very things that have helped bind it tightly to the West - are unique among Muslim nations. Regardless, Gul's election doesn't threaten those achievements; it confirms them. Turkey's economy is closely linked to the world. Now there are grounds for thinking that its political system, too, is becoming more deeply rooted in modern, democratic ideals...
...Originally nominated in April by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, co-founder with Gul of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Gul's name on the slate evoked thinly veiled threats of a coup by Turkey's staunchly secularist military. Seeking a public mandate, Erdogan defiantly called early elections and, in what was widely seen as a popular snub to the military, the AKP was swept back into power with a resounding 47% of the vote. Erdogan then pushed ahead with Gul's nomination, despite calls to name a more centrist candidate to stand for a position which...
...presidency heralds the start of a new era for Turkey, it's far from clear what that new era is going to hold. "Is this the beginning of a new period of compromise, or the start of secularist-Islamist strife?" wrote columnist Mehmet Ali Birand. A former foreign minister, Gul is widely known as a coalition builder who played a key role in Turkey's European Union membership bid, but his background in political Islam makes him unpalatable to secularists...
...outside of Turkey. At 56, he is young by the standards of Turkish politicians, and was visibly thrilled by his party's electoral victory last month - and by banners waved during the parliamentary campaign that read "Gul for President!" Addressing reporters on Tuesday, he vowed to stand by the secularist priniciples of Turkey's constitution...
...vision of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk [the staunchly secular founder of modern Turkey]," Gul said. "It is the duty of the president to protect democracy and secularism." Some liberal commentators are supporting his candidacy as a reproach to the military for intervening too vocally in May. But the hard-line secularist Republican People's Party, or CHP, reacted harshly. Its leader, Deniz Baykal, denounced his nomination as a threat to the "peace and stability of this country." He told a Turkish newspaper, "If Gul is elected, Turkey's political balances will change . Turkey will be transformed into a country with...