Turkey’s military throw down the gauntlet

The crisis was sparked by the military’s threat to intervene if the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has Islamist roots, pushed ahead with its candidate for the presidency, Abdullah Gul, the Foreign Minister. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister, broke with tradition and openly defied the armed forces, the self-appointed guardians of the secular constitution. His spokesman reminded them that constitutionally they were bound to take their orders from the Prime Minister, not vice versa. Gul refused to withdraw his candidature and following the decision of the Constitutional Court, the bastion of secularism, to block his candidacy on the dubious grounds that parliament lacked a quorum to elect him, Erdogan brought forward the general election scheduled for November. The AKP is likely to be re-elected.

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