Turkey's Gul set to clinch presidency next week

ANKARA, Aug 23 (Reuters) Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul looks set to become Turkey's president next week, completing the Islamist-rooted AK Party's capture of all key posts in the country despite strong opposition from army generals.

European Union-applicant Turkey has been mired in political turmoil since April when the ruling AK Party first nominated Gul, a respected diplomat, as their candidate.

''His election as president is as good as guaranteed. Next week (August. 28) he will get the sufficient number of votes and will be sworn in with lightening speed on the same evening,'' wrote Mehmet Ali Birand, a leading Turkish columnist.

Turkey's army, which has ousted four governments since 1960, and the powerful secular elite have opposed Gul because of his Islamist past and the fact his wife wears the Muslim headscarf, seen by secularists as a provocative symbol of religion.

The country of 74 million people is predominantly Muslim but is governed by a secular constitution. The AK Party is accused of seeking to undermine a separation of Mosque and state dating back to the foundation of the republic after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The party denies the charges.

The secular elite -- which includes the powerful army generals, judges, the heads of universities and other officials -- derailed a first presidential election in April, a move which sparked early parliamentary polls. That election was handsomely won by the centre-right pro-business AK Party on July 22.

A newly elected chamber has begun another round of voting to pick between Gul and two other candidates to replace staunchly secular incumbent Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

Parliament failed to elect Gul in the first vote on August. 20.

It will hold a second on August. 24, but Gul is unlikely to be elected until the third round on August. 28, when he needs a only simple majority. The AK Party holds 341 of the 550 seats.

If he wins as expected, it would be the first time in modern Turkey's history the post would go to a former Islamist.

In Turkey, the government holds most power but the president can veto laws and appointments of officials, and name judges.

The post carries great moral weight because it was first held by the country's revered secular founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

''WALKING A TIGHTROPE'' Secularists shudder at the thought of a leader with an Islamist past becoming president and commander in chief of NATO's second largest member army.

Gul says people should judge him for his record in office, where he helped win EU accession talks status and improved Turkey's human rights record. He has pledged to be a president for all Turks and says he will cut ties with his party.

The army and secularists will closely watch his performance and whether his wife wears the headscarf at official events. The garment is banned in public offices and universities and is not traditionally worn at Cankaya presidential palace receptions.

His behaviour as president may also be a lightening rod in the debate between Turks who want to keep religion out of public life and a growing, more religiously minded middle class who have prospered under the AK Party and want a relaxation of curbs on religious symbols and expressions.

''Gul will have to juggle between two hostile sides ... He will literally be walking a tightrope,'' Birand wrote.

Few expect the army to intervene directly after public statements earlier this year appear to have backfired and helped secure more votes for the AK Party in parliamentary elections.

Events are also being closely watched in Europe and the Middle East, given Turkey's strategic role in a volatile region.

''If the military intervenes, the message to the Muslim world will be clear: democracy is a dead end,'' Anwar Ibrahim, a senior Malaysian opposition figure, told the daily Today's Zaman.

REUTERS AM RK2032