May 26, 2012
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President hosts man who promised to walk to Ankara if Gül was elected
10 August 2009 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA
President Abdullah Gül has met with Malatya native Sami Karaaslan (68), who had been walking from Malatya to Ankara for days after promising in 2007 to do so if Gül were elected president.
In 2007, presidential elections were held but Gül could not be elected after the Constitutional Court issued a historic ruling necessitating that at least 367 deputies be present in Parliament for the election to count. Early elections were then called and were held on July 22. It was then that Karaaslan promised to walk to Ankara. He finally set out on the walk from Malatya a little over a week ago, on July 30.
After nine days of walking, he arrived in Pınarbaşı, Kayseri province. “Say hi for us, too,” said people who met him. Learning about Karaaslan from Zaman daily reports, President Gül ordered a car to bring Karaaslan to Ankara on Saturday. Karaaslan, however, rejected President Gül's offer, saying, “No, I will walk until the end.” Upon further insistence by the president, he accepted the offer and came to Ankara in a car belonging to the presidency. He met with President Gül last night. Gül hugged him and asked if there was anything he wanted. Karaaslan said he only wanted a photo with the president.
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