Abdullah Gul

12 Stories

NATO Ready to Defend Turkey in Syria Conflict

Border conflict continues for sixth day

(Newser) - As Turkey continued firing back at Syria for a sixth day today after a Syrian shell crossed the border and killed five civilians last week, NATO says it is prepared to defend Turkey. The alliance has "all necessary plans in place to protect and defend Turkey if necessary,"...

Downed Turkish Warplane 'May Have Crossed Border'

But Syria shouldn't have been surprised: President Gul

(Newser) - A Turkish fighter jet shot down by Syria may well have violated its airspace, Turkey's president admitted today. But he said that such high-altitude border crossings happen all the time. "It is routine for jet fighters to sometimes fly in and out over borders... when you consider their...

US Armenians Slam Obama Over Genocide

(Newser) - US Armenians criticized President Obama today for refusing to acknowledge the Armenian genocide while visiting Turkey, Politico reports. Obama “missed a valuable opportunity to honor" a campaign pledge, said one advocate, after Obama mentioned “the terrible events of 1915” but avoided saying whether he had pressed Turkey's president...

Obama Touts Turkey Ties, Parries Genocide Issue

(Newser) - Barack Obama reaffirmed the strength of US-Turkish ties at a press conference in Ankara this morning, touting Turkey as a nation with “similar principles” to the US, and asking for its help in ending the Iraq war. But things got awkward when talk turned to Armenian genocide, which Obama...

Court Could Outlaw Turkey's 'Islamist Government'

Explosive trial could bar ruling party, prez and prime minister

(Newser) - Turkey's top court has agreed to hear a case that could outlaw the nation's ruling party and bar its president and prime minister from politics, Reuters reports. The AK Party is accused of trying to undermine Turkey's secular constitution and establish an Iran-style Islamic state. The case pits Turkey's popularly...

Turkish Army Blasts Incoming President

Fears of a coup return as former Islamist ascends to top job

(Newser) - Turkey is heading for a showdown over the relation of the state and Islam as Abdullah Gul, who has been the subject of bitter protests, was named president of Turkey in a parliamentary election today. The nomination of Gul, the foreign minister and a practicing Muslim whose wife wears a...

Foes Gear to Fight New Bid By Ex-Islamist to Lead Turkey

Critics fear extreme religious shift for nation

(Newser) - Turkish secularists are bracing for another clash over the presidential candidacy of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a devout Muslim and one-time Islamist party member who critics fear plans to enforce extreme religious principals in public life. The last time he was nominated as the ruling party's candidate, just three months...

Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea

Tension between secularism, democracy roils Turkey

(Newser) - If the choice is between somewhat more religion in public life and democracy in Turkey, choose the latter, argues the Economist. The ruling party's choice of an Islamist candidate, Abdullah Gul, for president set off a familiar confrontation between the Turkish military and the political establishment. The Economist asks, "...

Turkish Candidate Bows Out
Turkish Candidate
Bows Out
May 7, 2007 7:46 AM CDT

Turkish Candidate Bows Out

Dispute over presidential election highlights serious rifts

(Newser) - Turkish presidential candidate Abdullah Gul threw in the towel yesterday after secularist legislators boycotted the election for the second time in nine days in reaction to Gul's pro-Islamist record. The partisan standoff portends a bitter clash between secularists who generally populate Turkey's urban areas and the ruling AK party in...

Turkish PM Backs Election Overhaul
Turkish PM Backs Election Overhaul
May 1, 2007 7:38 PM CDT

Turkish PM Backs Election Overhaul

Court annuls vote with sole Islamist candidate for president

(Newser) - Turkey's prime minister put his weight behind a new, popular presidential vote, hours after a court invalidated Friday's election by parliament. The secular opposition had boycotted that vote because of the Islamist background of the lone candidate, foreign minister Abdullah Gul.

Million Turks Rally for Secularism
Million Turks Rally for Secularism
Apr 30, 2007 6:35 AM CDT

Million Turks Rally for Secularism

(Newser) - Secular Turks staged an enormous rally yesterday amid a constitutional crisis over the election of the next president, the BBC reports. As many as a million protesters turned out in Istanbul to oppose ruling-party candidate Abdullah Gul, who they're afraid is orchestrating an Islamic coup in the country even as...

Turks threaten action in Iraq against Kurds

U.S. scrambling to head off strikes that could derail effectiveness of surge

(Newser) - Turkey is threatening military intervention against leftist Kurdish guerrillas said to be massing in northern Iraq, planning to attack targets across their border. Washington is trying to placate the Turks, fearing that a Turkish incursion would further destabilize the fledgling Iraqi government.

12 Stories