TURKEY:Turkey headed yesterday for early parliamentary elections on July 22th to settle a stand-off between the Islamist-rooted government and the secular elite over the country's strict separation of mosque and state.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed the early poll a day after Turkey's highest court ruled that the first round of a presidential election was invalid, a defeat for the ruling AK Party that Mr Erdogan labelled "a bullet aimed at democracy".
The opposition boycotted the first round of the vote in parliament, preventing the required quorum and forcing the country towards early elections. The court ruled that without a quorum the election was invalid.
Foreign minister Abdullah Gul, an AK party member and the only presidential candidate, is a former Islamist whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf. Opponents fear that Mr Gul as president and Mr Erdogan as prime minister would push Turkey towards an Islamist agenda, something they both deny.
"We made a decision which will end all of the controversies and give the word to the nation. Our dear nation will present its preference of the future," Mr Erdogan said.
Parliament's constitutional committee proposed holding the vote on July 22nd rather than June 24th as proposed by the AK Party, and CNN Turk quoted Mr Erdogan as saying he had no objection. Parliament's general assembly was expected to approve the date.
The election was originally slated for November 4th.
Mr Erdogan and his AK Party are expected to win a second term after five years of strong economic growth since coming to power in 2002.
The party also announced a plan to hold a referendum, perhaps on election day, if it fails to get the opposition's backing to amend the constitution so that the president would be elected by popular vote, not by parliament.
Deniz Baykal, leader of the secularist main opposition Republican People's Party, said it was too late for this parliament to overhaul the constitution.
"This is about a fundamental power struggle. Erdogan is saying: 'Okay, you're using everything in order to stop me, then I am going to the public and I will ask them [ what they want]'," said Mehmet Ali Birand, a leading Turkish commentator.
A threat by the army, which regards itself as the guardian of the secular system, to intervene in the presidential poll, the opposition boycott of the first round vote and an anti-government rally of up to one million people on Sunday increased tensions.
The decision to bring forward the election brought relief to financial markets, which had suffered their biggest fall in a year over the previous two days.
The European Commission backed the move as a way out of the crisis and called on all sides to accept the ruling of the Turkish constitutional court, which had invalidated the parliamentary ballot on a new head of state.
"The European Commission welcomes early elections to ensure political stability and democratic development," said Johannes Laitenberger, a commission spokesman.
Mr Erdogan, in a largely symbolic gesture, said he would press on with the presidential vote on May 6th despite the court ruling. The opposition has vowed to boycott the vote again.
The court has been accused of siding with the secularist elite. "The constitutional court decision is a bullet aimed at democracy," Mr Erdogan said in televised remarks to his party. He later said this was aimed at Mr Baykal, who led the boycott that pushed the issue before the court.
The presidency carries symbolic significance in Turkey because it was first held by the revered founder of the modern republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The president also has veto and appointment powers and is head of the army. - ( Reuters, Guardian service)