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Turkish PM, EU officials tell army not to interfere

Turks will oppose efforts to erode their country's stability, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, after the army warned that his government was not doing enough to defend the secular system.

"The political unity and social structure ... of this country can sometimes be subject to disasters," he told a gathering of the Turkish Red Crescent in Ankara.

"This nation has paid a heavy, painful price when the base of stability and confidence has been lost. But it no longer allows, nor will it allow, opportunists who are waiting and paving the way for a disaster," he said.

In an unusually strongly worded statement late on Friday, the Turkish army, responsible for three past coups, warned that it was determined to defend the country's secular system, weighing in on a controversial presidential vote that has sharply divided secularists and the Islamist-rooted government.

The warning came in an unusually stiff statement late on Friday, hours after parliament held an inconclusive first round of voting to elect a new president with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) pick, the sole candidate.

"The problem that recently came to the forefront of the presidential election process has focused on the issue of questioning secularism. The Turkish armed forces are observing this situation with concern," the army said.

"The Turkish armed forces ... will openly and clearly display their position and attitude when necessary. No one should doubt this," it warned.

The AKP's nomination of Gul has fanned unease in an increasingly polarized society where many fear the secular order is under threat from a growing Islamist influence.

Many are unconvinced by the AKP's arguments that it has disawoved its Islamist past and fear the government will have a free hand to implement a suspected Islamist agenda that will erode the separation of state and religion if Gul is elected.

The Turkish armed forces, which see themselves as the guardians of the secular system, seized power in 1960, 1971 and 1980 and forced the resignation in 1997 of the country's first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan.

The main opposition Republican People's Party, which strongly opposes the idea of a former Islamist becoming president, on Friday evening petitioned the Constitutional Court to cancel the first round of voting, citing violation of a quorum rule.

If the court annuls the vote, general elections -- originally scheduled for Nov. 4 -- must be called within 90 days.

The EU yesterday also warned the Turkish army not to interfere in the country's democratic process.

"It is important that the military leaves the remit of democracy to the democratically elected government," EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn said in a statement.

"This is a test case if the Turkish armed forces respect democratic secularism and the democratic arrangement of civil-military relations," Rehn said.

In Friday's presidential vote, Gul fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority of 367 required in ballotting boycotted by opposition parties.

If the Constitutional Court does not cancel the vote, parliament will hold a second round on Wednesday, probably with a similar result, but he is virtually certain to be elected in the third round on May 9, when an absolute majority of 276 will suffice.

Dozens of non-governmental organizations have called for a rally in Istanbul today to show their support for the secular system.
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