Turkish government calls early elections after clash

Islamist ruling party sets polls for June 24 to ease tensions with army

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses lawmakers in Ankara yesterday. Facing stiff opposition from secularists, Erdogan asked parliament to call early general elections for June 24.

By Paul de Bendern - Reuters

ANKARA – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed bringing forward a parliamentary election to June 24 yesterday to end a standoff between his Islamist-rooted government and the secular elite over Turkey’s political future.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered defeat over a presidential poll on Tuesday in Turkey’s highest court which Erdogan labelled “a bullet aimed at democracy”. The party’s presidential candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, is a former Islamist.

“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,” Erdogan said in televised remarks to his party.

The AKP has submitted a proposal to parliament for the election to be brought forward to June 24 from November 4.

Erdogan is expected to win a second term after five years of strong economic growth since his party came to power in 2002.

The AKP will also propose the president is in future elected by voters, not by lawmakers, Erdogan said.

Deniz Baykal, leader of the secularist main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said it was too late for this parliament, elected in 2002, to overhaul the constitution.

“This is about a fundamental power struggle. Erdogan is saying ‘ok, 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 Turkey’s secular system, to intervene in the presidential poll, an opposition boycott of the first round vote in parliament and an anti-government rally of up to 1 million people on Sunday sharply increased tensions in Turkey.

The decision to move the election to June provided relief for financial markets which suffered their biggest fall in a year over the last two days on fears of instability.

The European Commission welcomed Erdogan’s proposal for an early poll. Italy said recent events in Turkey showed caution over its admittance to the 27-nation bloc appeared justified.

“The respect of state institutions is essential to ensure political stability,” the Commission said in a statement. Turkey began EU membership talks in 2005.

The opposition boycotted last week’s presidential vote and said there were not enough deputies in parliament to make the vote valid. Gul is the only presidential candidate.

Erdogan’s government vowed to press on with the presidential vote after the Constitutional Court annulled the first round on Tuesday. “The Constitutional Court decision is a bullet aimed at democracy,” Erdogan told a televised gathering of his party.

The court has been accused of siding with the secularist elite. The next round of voting in the presidential poll will be held on Sunday, a senior AKP member said. But opposition parties have pledged to boycott that vote too.

The presidency carries great symbolic weight 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.

Secularists, including army generals and judges, fear that once the AKP secures control of the presidency – the last key state institution it does not hold – it will chip away at the secular principles of the republic.

The AKP reject the allegation and point to their pro-Western record in office. “We are not a religion-centred party... We are secularists too,” Erdogan said.