Gul fails in first Turkey vote

[demoleft]

Source: Al Jazeera

Turkey's foreign minister has not secured enough support in parliament to become the country’s president after a first round vote, deputies have said.

Abdullah Gul won 341 votes in Monday's parliamentary vote, 26 short of the amount needed to secure a two-thirds majority. A second round of voting has been set for Friday.

Prior to the vote, the Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) also said it would not vote for Gul.

Ali Riza Alaboyun, an AKP member, told Al Jazeera that while opposition remained to Gul's candidacy, the foreign minister would be a worthwhile president.


Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1C87E5DA-7AA6-41B4-B290-99BD0C92209F.htm

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It is certain. Just a matter of time.

I'm a bit doubtful. Perhaps a President that help unite the Nation - and not divide - would fit Turkey's future better than him.
But Gul, though he's got a political past a bit too close to political islamism, is clearly monitored by EU. He wants to join Europe, so I finally think there'll be no danger for secularism.
But I remain doubtful on the choice.

It's news of some hours ago. I didn't find it in LBN. So I thought to share it with you.

[denidem]

1. Interesting to watch.

Thanks for posting.

[Rydz777]

2. I lived in Turkey for a year, was always treated with hospitality,

and I am very fond of the country. However, I completely distrust the current government of Erdogan and the Islamist Justice & Development Party. Erdogan has been quoted as saying, "Democracy is like a streetcar. You ride it to where you want to go, and then you get off."

Whether he actually said this or not, it seems to me that the future of Turkey is Islamist. I really don't think the EU will ever admit Turkey.

[harun]

3. I think with how good Turkey's economy is now they may

not want to even be admitted. A lot of the Turks I know don't want to be admitted.

It seems like Gul would be good for Turkey, and has the support of the people, just not the elite (yet).

I think it is more accurate to say the future of Turkey is not militantly secular (which is a code word for them that means atheist). In Turkey you can't even go on a college campus if you have a beard for example (too Muslim, booo scary). So Gul is hardly the Islamist like we think of the term Islamist in the west, he just isn't radically secular like the current Kemalist gov't. A very interesting time for Turkey, hope the military doesn't step in and mess everything up for them.

[youngdem]

4. He didn't fail....He made the runoff, which he will win

Terribly inaccurate headline.

He just failed to win a simple majority. He still was the leading vote getter in the parliament and his party has the plurality.

His inauguration is all but certain.

It will be interesting to see what his attitude is toward the Kurds (read - will he kill them all right away or just persecute them horribly), and how it will impact Northern Iraq/Kurdistan.

NOT good news anyway you slice it when Turkey loses its secular face. All sorts of problems will emerge, not the least of which is potential civil war/strife because the army is secular (THANK GOD).