Turkey's Gul bows to pressure, withdraws candidacy

ANKARA, May 6 (Reuters) Former Islamist Abdullah Gul withdrew his candidacy for Turkey's presidency today, bowing to pressure from the military and demonstrators who accuse his ruling party of subverting the nation's secular order.

A dispirited-looking Gul made the move that could ease a crisis in Turkey after his ruling AK party failed to gain a quorum in parliament to elect him.

''After this ... my candidacy is out of the question,'' Foreign Minister Gul told reporters after the roll-call in parliament. ''I don't feel resentment.'' Gul, leading architect of Turkey's EU membership bid, has not yet formally withdrawn, but the next president is now expected to be elected only after early general polls on July 22. He was the only candidate.

His bid, backed by the AK party, revealed a deep divide over the future direction of Turkey, which has a strongly secular constitution but a predominantly Muslim population.

Parliament elects presidents for a single seven-year term.

The AK Party is expected to win the next general election, according to opinion polls, but it is too early to say whether they will be able to form a single party government again.

Analysts say a general election win should give the party legitimacy to put forward their presidential candidate through parliament or a popular vote.

The NATO-member has seen a wave of large protests by secularists who demanded Gul withdraw his candidacy. That was accompanied by rising alarm in the military at the prospect of a former Islamist becoming president and commander-in-chief.

The military, which along with the judiciary and universities make up the core of the secular elite, has issued a public reminder it is the ultimate defender of the secular state. The army has removed four civilian governments in 50 years in a nation which now hopes for European Union membership.

WORRIES OVER ARABISATION ''Many Turks are happy with the secular system and used to a lifestyle people have had for 100 years. They are worried that an Arabisation of society may take place,'' Semih Idiz, a columnist at liberal daily Milliyet, told Reuters.

The AK Party, which has Islamist origins but denies an Islamist agenda now, failed to muster the 367 deputies required to vote because most opposition parties boycotted the session.

Last week, the Constitutional Court annulled a first round ballot and ruled that two-thirds of the chamber had to be present to validate a presidential vote.

Fighting back, the government organised a re-vote, called early general elections, and is now pushing for constitutional amendments that would let the public, rather than parliament, elect the president for a maximum of two five-year terms.

Parliament is now expected to call the presidential election process invalid. Turkish financial markets fell to one-year lows last week due to deadlock, but analysts hope early general elections will pull Turkey out of the crisis.

A divide has emerged between Turks who want to preserve the strict separation of mosque and state and a growing class of more religiously-minded people who want a relaxation of curbs on religious symbols and expression.

Gul's withdrawal marks the AK Party's first major defeat since it swept to power in 2002 amid a deep financial crisis.

With a majority in parliament, the party has promoted economic reforms in a drive to join the EU, wooed foreign investors and improved Turkey's record on human rights.

But critics fear that once the party takes the presidency it will control all major state institutions. To end the standoff, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is appealing directly to the people in elections on July 22, brought forward from November 4.

''The only point of stability, the only concept we can have some faith in are the citizens of this country,'' said Egemen Bagis, an AK Party lawmaker and Erdogan adviser. ''It will be up to the Turkish nation to decide whom they want to govern them.'' Erdogan is also pushing for the constitutional amendments to overhaul the process of presidential elections. Such a radical move could renew tensions with the armed forces, analysts say.

Parliament is expected to vote on the changes this week and the next president could be elected by popular vote later this year. But the amendments could also face legal challenges or be put to a referendum.

Reuters SM DB2134