ANKARA, 17 August 2007 — Outgoing Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday refused to approve the new government in a “gesture” to his successor who is to be elected soon, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “It was a surprise for me... Without even seeing the list, he said it would be more appropriate if the new president approves the cabinet,” Erdogan told reporters after a brief meeting with Sezer.

“In my opinion, it was a very positive approach... We can call it a gesture,” he added. The Parliament convenes Monday for a series of votes to elect a successor to Sezer, a staunchly secularist former judge who has often clashed with Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) candidate, is almost certain to be elected in the later stages of voting in Parliament, where his party holds a solid majority.

The AK Party, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, won a second five-year term to govern Turkey in snap general elections on July 22, prompted by a political crisis in April over its initial bid to install Gul as president.

On Wednesday, Erdogan had urged Sezer not to reject the new Cabinet. “I am putting together a team of people who have won elections... I would best know who should serve where,” he said. “I believe the president will be understanding in this respect.” Sezer has often rejected the appointment of senior officials he saw as Islamist government cronies and vetoed laws he deemed to be in conflict with the country’s strictly secular system.

Erdogan gave few details on the makeup of the new government, saying only that he plans to increase the number of his ministers by two to 24 and make changes to the main portfolios in the future.

Turkish newspapers have suggested Erdogan will opt for an extensive reshuffle in his outgoing Cabinet and include also new party recruits. Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan is viewed in the press as the strongest candidate to become the “coordinating minister” topping all economy-related portfolios under a new administrative structure to manage Turkey’s booming $400-billion economy.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party signaled yesterday that it would not boycott a parliamentary vote next week to elect president, further boosting the hopes of Gul. “We should never hamper the functioning of the democratic system,” said Ahmet Turk, head of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), after Gul, currently the foreign minister, visited the party in a bid to drum up support.

“The fact that Mr. Gul’s wife wears the (Islamic) head scarf is not important for us. What matters are his own qualities... We hope Mr. Gul will follow policies that would embrace all 72 million people of this country.” The DTP has not yet decided whether it will support Gul, Turk said. But even if they withhold support, the attendance of opposition parties is crucial for the AK Party to secure Gul’s eventual victory.