ANKARA, 9 August 2007 — Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK Party) yesterday offered an olive branch to the powerful secular elite by proposing a non-Islamist for the post of parliamentary speaker, but it has yet to say who will be its choice for president. The Islamist-rooted AK Party is naming candidates for the top jobs in Turkey’s state hierarchy following its landslide win in July 22 parliamentary elections.
But the secularists, including the army generals, are closely watching its every move and are worried it will again pick Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, an ex-Islamist, for the presidency. The secularist camp blocked Gul’s candidacy in May.
The leader of Turkey’s second biggest opposition party said there would be a new political crisis if Gul ran again. But the naming of Koksal Toptan, a moderate conservative, as the AK Party’s candidate for speaker, a post that ranks second only to that of president in Turkey, will please secularists and suggests the party is seeking compromise, analysts said.
Toptan does not have an Islamic background and his wife does not wear the head scarf. He has served in several secular, center-right governments, including as education minister. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has a big parliamentary majority, virtually guaranteeing Toptan’s election. A first round of voting is scheduled for today.
Toptan will replace the Islamist-minded Bulent Arinc, who announced on Tuesday he would not seek re-election as speaker. Initial reaction from opposition parties was positive.
“Turkey is entering a new period. This is a new start. Compromise is very important ... We hope Toptan will not act as a ruling party speaker and will be fair to all sides,” opposition lawmaker Onur Oymen told NTV television.
Analysts also welcomed Toptan’s nomination. “Things are moving in the right direction, namely one of a compromise approach,” said Simon Quijano-Evans, an emerging markets expert at CA IB bank.
But Turkey remains on tenterhooks over who will be the AK Party’s presidential candidate, with some media speculating that Erdogan himself wants Gul to withdraw from the race to avoid fanning tensions with the military.
A decade ago, the army ousted a government it deemed too Islamist. Gul had served in that government. Gul is a respected diplomat and an architect of Turkey’s European Union membership bid, but his Islamist past and the fact that his wife wears the head scarf make him a controversial choice for the secular establishment.
The leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said Gul should not become head of state.
“If the AK Party perceives the (July) election results as political approval to continue its stubborn and confrontational policies (over the presidency), a new crisis will be unavoidable,” Devlet Bahceli told his MPs.
