The process consists of a 10-day period for candidate nominations, beginning yesterday, and a maximum four-round vote in Parliament. It is expected to be completed by September, with the president likely to be elected on Aug. 28 at the latest. Despite the ticking clock, Ankara is expected to be kept busy for several more days with a heated debate on whether the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will again nominate Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül for the top state post.
AK Party sources deny media reports of a rift between Gül and Erdoğan who, according to claims in Turkish newspapers, seeks another candidate who would be acceptable to the secularist state establishment in order to avoid political tension in the second term of his government.
Gül had to withdraw his bid after the Constitutional Court issued a controversial ruling to cancel the first round of the vote, upholding a complaint from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) that there were less than 367 deputies in attendance. The court ruling came days after the military issued a powerful statement expressing concern over secularism -- a not-so-veiled message opposing Gül's presidency.
A series of media reports have claimed that Erdoğan now wants to avoid similar tension, fearing that this could undermine his government's efforts to continue with reforms despite a landslide win for the AK Party in the general elections. These reports further suggested that Erdoğan is using veiled messages by "third parties" to persuade Gül, his comrade in politics for decades, to withdraw his bid for the presidency. According to reports Gül remains adamant on his bid, saying the July 22 election results were a strong message from the people that he should be the next president.
A series of media reports have claimed that Erdoğan now wants to avoid similar tension, fearing that this could undermine his government’s efforts to continue with reforms despite a landslide win for the AK Party in the general elections. These reports further suggested that Erdoğan is using veiled messages by “third parties” to persuade Gül, his comrade in politics for decades, to withdraw his bid for the presidency. According to reports Gül remains adamant on his bid, saying the July 22 election results were a strong message from the people that he should be the next president.
In an editorial penned by its Editor-in-Chief Ertuğrul Özkök, Hürriyet daily said recently that Gül should withdraw his bid despite being perfectly fit for the post in all respects. Critics in the media said Özkök voiced the wishes of the military and the main opposition CHP.
AK Party officials, however, see the reports as part of a “purposeful campaign” by certain circles who do not want Gül’s presidency, aimed at creating a false public impression that Erdoğan thinks the same way. Nihat Ergun, one of the AK Party’s parliamentary group chairmen, is confident that the party would not bow to pressure from such a campaign.
“We count on Gül’s will in the first place and then our party’s decision,” he told Today’s Zaman. “We will act on the basis of the decision made by our people, not by anyone else.”
Senior AK Party member Salih Kapusuz, a former parliamentary group chairman, insisted that claims of a rift are “purposeful” and malicious. According to Kapusuz, withdrawal of Gül’s candidacy would run counter to the people’s will. In remarks to Today’s Zaman, Kapusuz said it is unacceptable to argue that the landslide election victory had nothing to do with the crisis over the presidential election and predicted that the media campaign to persuade Gül to give up on his bid would backfire.
Reports of Erdoğan and Gül disagreeing picked up momentum after the AK Party nominated Köksal Toptan, a former center-right politician with no Islamic past, for parliament speaker. Newspapers said the nearly unanimous support for Toptan in Parliament during Thursday’s election proved that a similar consensus should be reached in the presidential election.
Several newspapers, including Hürriyet, said yesterday that a column in Yeni Şafak, known to be close to the government, was proof that Erdoğan is using third parties to send messages to Gül to give up on his bid for the sake of the country’s well-being. The Thursday column was reportedly penned by Yalçın Akdoğan, a close aide to Erdoğan, who writes under the name of Yasin Doğan in his columns. In that column he disputed claims that the 46.7 percent vote for the AK Party reflected people’s frustration with successful efforts to ban Gül’s presidency, arguing instead that the massive support indicated people’s desire to preserve the economic and political stability that Turkey has experienced during the first term of the AK Party.
But the same columnist denounced what he called “attempts to twist his argument” in his column yesterday, dismissing suggestions that he was trying to send a message to Gül.
Akif Beki, spokesman for Prime Minister Erdoğan, also criticized the reports in a statement released yesterday, saying such coverage is based on “estimates, comment and distortion.” Beki said, “Such reports and comments based on sources described as aides or consultants do not reflect the truth and are binding only on the author.”
According to Taner Yıldız, an AK Party deputy, the reports and comments in the mainstream media are the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of how things work within the AK Party. “Erdoğan and Gül are exchanging views on how the process should go ahead. Assuming that they have opposing views on how the process should proceed is a mistake at the outset,” he said.
“Putting forward different aspects of the issue is not a disagreement,” agreed Adana deputy Necdet Ünüvar, criticizing the media’s approach. “There will be different approaches in solution-oriented discussions. What matters is the consensus reached in the end,” he said.
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