Indeed, an e-memorandum issued by the Turkish Armed Forces coupled with a controversial decision by the Constitutional Court and a number of large scale rallies captured the imagination of an already sensitized international community. Since then, an early election precipitated by the impasse around the presidential election took place and Prime Minister Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) achieved an impressive election victory. After some initial hesitation, this week, Mr. Gül -- for the second time -- became the AK Party’s candidate for the presidency. There are a number of reasons why Mr. Gül’s presidency makes sense. First of all, Mr. Gül is a true statesman and has a proven track record of working well with the armed forces, the foreign ministry and the security bureaucracy. Second, Mr. Gül has been a very effective foreign minister and has acquired extensive international prestige which no doubt will help him perform his duties as president. Third, the July 22 election was dominated by the presidential crisis and many viewed the election as a referendum on what happened during the crisis. Hence, the convincing victory of the AK Party mandated the AK Party leadership to put Mr. Gül as the party’s candidate for the presidency. Fourth, given the popularity of Mr. Gül and the clear choice of the Turkish electorate, proposing an alternative candidate would have hurt the AK Party significantly as it would have become extremely difficult to explain to the grassroots why Mr. Gül could not have become the party’s candidate despite an overwhelming majority in Parliament. Fifth, the AK Party has no doubt that “President Gül” will be extremely sensitive to the core principles of the Turkish Republic, including secularism.
Objections to Mr. Gül’s presidency come mainly from secularist quarters who argue that Gül’s wife, who wears a headscarf, cannot be allowed to occupy the presidential palace. Yet, the headscarf is a reality of Turkish life. Although on the decline, still a considerable number of Turkish women wear the headscarf. Excluding them and their husbands from public life constitutes a grave injustice and is far from consistent with the democratic ideals enshrined in the Turkish Constitution. Turkey needs to debate sensitive issues such as the headscarf issue and move on. As much as it was absurd the first time, it is equally absurd now, particularly after the resounding election victory of the AK Party, to create a crisis atmosphere in the Turkish body politic around the headscarf issue. In fact, Turkey and the international community should view Mr. Gül’s presidency as an opportunity to overcome a significant hurdle that has come to divide Turks along conservative and secularist lines.
Furthermore, Mr. Gül’s presidency may open a serious debate on finding Turkey’s elusive social and political consensus. Such a grand debate is likely to be not only limited to the headscarf issue but other key issues, such as civil-military relations and a new constitution are probably to be discussed as well. In this regard, the next five years constitute a historic opportunity. The Turkish elite should not waste its energy on further polarizing the country but should demonstrate the democratic courage and maturity needed to debate and solve these key issues. Seen from this perspective, a respectable and constructive “President Gül” may become an indispensable actor in the forging of such a societal consensus.
Ultimately, Mr. Gül is the democratic choice of the AK Party and, arguably, of the Turkish nation, which gave the AK Party nearly 47 percent of the vote in the July 22 election. Instead of hatching plots and crises around his candidacy we should embrace him and help him to make a good start to his presidency. At this stage, the further normalization and consolidation of Turkish democracy necessitates Mr. Gül become Turkey’s 11th President.
