April 30th, 2007 by Jonathan

Following up on a post we did last week about Abdullah Gul. On Friday, the Turkish Military, long a powerful force in Turkish politics, issued a statement saying that it was ready to intervene directly to defend secularism, seemingly in opposition to the mildly Islamist Gul. On Saturday, the government came back with this statement: “It is unthinkable in a democratic state based on the rule of law for the general staff, which is subordinate to the prime ministry, to speak out against the government”. The Turkish Military has a history of political intervention and coups and is apparently trying to influence the constitutional court’s ruling on the presidential vote.

Update: 700,000 pro-secularist protesters marched against Abdullah Gul’s candidacy yesterday in Istanbul. This follows a similar rally that took place in Ankara two weeks ago.

The Wall Street Journal recommends sidelining the military in this case (subscription required).

Posted in Turkey |