Word: turkeys
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...Turkey today passed a political landmark when, for the first time in its history, a politician rooted in political Islam was elected President. Bringing four months of government turmoil to an end, Abdullah Gul won the post on the third round of balloting by the nation's parliament...
...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...
...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...
...undeterred by the military's opposition, insisting he is the right man for the job. Despite his roots in Islamist politics, he is considered a moderate and, as Turkey's foreign minister, is comparatively well-known 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...
...will work to protect the 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...