Turkey set to elect ex-Islamist as president

ANKARA, Aug 28 (Reuters) Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was set to be elected Turkey's next president today, the first time in the secular but predominantly Muslim country's modern history that the post will go to a former Islamist.

Gul has established himself as a respected diplomat since his AK Party was first elected in 2002, securing the launch of Turkey's European Union entry talks. He pledges to be a leader for all Turks, but he is not to the taste of a military which suspects the AK Party of harbouring a secret Islamist agenda.

Armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit said on Monday he saw ''centres of evil'' seeking to undermine the secular republic, a statement suggesting the army would not stand on the sidelines if it saw the separation between religion and state threatened.

Many observers expect Gul will seek to avoid confrontation.

''You shouldn't expect radical moves with Gul as president.

Both his opponents, who are scared he might do so, will be surprised and his supporters hoping for radical moves will be disappointed,'' said academic and Middle East expert Cengiz Candar.

Turkish financial markets were under pressure following the army statement but also affected by weaker global markets. The lira eased to 1.3240 against the dollar.

Gul was forecast to win the third round of voting in parliament starting at 1730 IST when the AK Party only needs an absolute majority to secure the post. In the previous two rounds it failed because a two-thirds majority was required.

The AK Party has 341 seats in the 550-seat chamber. Two other candidates are standing for president.

HEADSCARF IN THE PALACE The secular elite and Turkey's generals, who have ousted four governments since 1960, are wary of Gul's Islamist past and alarmed at the prospect of a woman, his wife, wearing the Islamic headscarf in the Cankaya presidential palace.

The headscarf is for many a potent symbol of the religious influence that soldier-turned-politician Mustafa Kemal Ataturk banished from public life when he founded the modern, Western-style republic on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

''On this historic day his wife will not be at his side,'' said a headline in liberal daily Milliyet, reinforcing just how polarising the issue of the headscarf is in Turkey.

But a survey by the KONDA agency conducted for Milliyet showed that 72.6 per cent of participants regarded it as '''normal'' for the wife of the president to wear a headscarf, while 19.8 per cent said they would be uncomfortable about this.

Turkey, a key member of NATO, has been mired in political turmoil since April when the AK Party first nominated Gul as its candidate. The crisis sparked early parliamentary elections.

Seeing Gul elected would mark a sweet victory for the AK Party, which has gradually moved more to the centre of the Turkish political landscape. It completes its capture of all top state institutions.

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

The post carries moral weight as it was first held by Ataturk.

Erdogan and Gul say they are loyal to the secular system and that their party's July landslide win, with 47 per cent of the vote, gives Gul a strong presidential mandate.

''One of the striking qualities is that he will be affectionate to the public. It'll open the presidential palace to the people. It was too much of an isolated place in the last seven years,'' Candar told Reuters.

Few expect the army to intervene directly after their strong public statements earlier this year appeared to backfire and helped secure more votes for the AK Party in July elections.

''The army is back in the barracks but its soldiers are still keeping guard and remain on the lookout,'' said professor Dogu Ergil of Ankara University.

REUTERS LPB DS1610