After Protest, Turkish Court Annuls Vote For President
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Wednesday, May 2, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey, May 1 -- Turkey's highest court sided with the secular opposition on Tuesday in a contest over the presidency, annulling a parliamentary vote for the candidate of the Islamic-rooted ruling party.
The government said it would hold another vote on Thursday.
The prospect of the foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, in the presidency raised the possibility of a rise in political Islam that could erode Turkey's long secular tradition. Hundreds of thousands of pro-secular demonstrators have called for the government to step down.
The government said it was considering early general elections "as soon as possible," but added that it wanted a constitutional amendment before that could happen. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said elections could be held as early as June 24, instead of in November as scheduled.
Turkey, a candidate for European Union membership, has been laboring to recover from a 2001 financial crisis, curb inflation and push ahead with banking reform and other initiatives backed by the International Monetary Fund.
The government had hoped to strengthen its authority with Gul's bid to become Turkey's 11th president.
But the opposition Republican People's Party boycotted the first round of voting for president on Friday and asked for it to be canceled, arguing that the vote was invalid because it lacked a quorum of two-thirds of Turkey's 550 legislators. The court upheld the party's protest Tuesday, saying a quorum of 367 lawmakers was needed.
Cemil Cicek, the justice minister and government spokesman, said the ruling party wanted a constitutional amendment that would lower the minimum age for candidacy to 25, from 30, before it agreed to early elections.
"We would like the elections to take place as soon as possible," Cicek said.
At least 700,000 protesters marched in Istanbul on Sunday to demand the resignation of the government.
Prime Minister Erdogan appealed for calm Monday in a national address, saying that Turkey must ensure its stability to safeguard its economic recovery.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, an army officer in World War I, founded the secular Turkish republic after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He allowed women to vote, restricted Islamic dress and replaced the Arabic script with the Roman alphabet.
But Islam has remained potent among many people, and some leaders with a religious background have portrayed their leadership as an alternative to the secular establishment.
