MEPs welcome election of new Turkish president

MEPs have welcomed the election of Abdullah Gul as Turkey’s new president despite fears in some quarters that his Islamist past could split the country.

Turkish military leaders have already spoken out against any possible threat to the country’s famously secular constitution.

But ALDE group leader Graham Watson said that Gul’s personal Islamic beliefs should not be interpreted as a desire to convert Turkey into an Islamic state.

"Gul is an accomplished politician and statesman who has all the qualifications to be an excellent president of the Turkish republic," he said.

"His successful record in supporting Turkey's closer integration with the European union serves to strengthen, not weaken, Turkey's democratic secularism."

Dutch Green MEP Joost Lagendijk, who chairs parliament's Turkey-EU delegation, added that the election of Gul was a "logical consequence" of the victory of the AKP in the parliamentary elections last July.

"As president he can continue to be an excellent ambassador for the Turkish pursuit of EU membership," he said.

Turkey’s military, which sees itself as the guardian of the country’s secular constitution, has indicated that it remains wary of Gul’s long term Islamist aims.

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