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SIIRT (Turkey) March 9: Tayyip Erdogan, head of Turkey’s ruling party, took a major step towards becoming prime minister on Sunday when he won a by-election sending him out of the political wilderness and into parliament.
Erdogan’s assumption of the premiership would end a period of uncertain “dual power” in Turkey and could also allow a new parliamentary vote on a US request to deploy up to 62,000 troops in Turkey ahead of a possible invasion of Iraq.
Erdogan, 49, led his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to an overwhelming victory in a general election last November. But he was banned by the constitution from public office because of a 1998 conviction for Islamist sedition and named ally Abdullah Gul to head the cabinet.
The AKP government changed the constitution to permit Erdogan to stand, and the by-election in the southeastern town of Siirt, near the Iraqi border, gave the charismatic former Istanbul mayor his chance.
“The date of March 9, 2003, is an historical turning point for our country, for democracy, and for our legal struggle,” Erdogan said in a televised address after the result.
He and two other AKP candidates won some 85 percent of the vote in the by-election, according to provisional results announced by Siirt governor Nuri Okutan.
A popular figure in the southeast, Erdogan faced little opposition in a town dogged by unemployment and poverty.
Sunday’s by-election victory carries great symbolism for Erdogan and his AKP, as it was at Siirt where he recited a religious poem that led to the five-year political ban.
MILITARY BACK NEW VOTE: Erdogan’s installation as prime minister, possibly in two weeks or less, could enable him to resubmit to parliament the US troop request it unexpectedly rejected a week ago.
The powerful Turkish military has thrown its weight behind a resubmission.
The United States, poised for a war it says is necessary to disarm Iraq, believes a secondary, northern front from Turkey, backing a main thrust from the south, would speed victory.
“As soon as he sits down as prime minister he will have to deal with the issue of a second parliament motion. He may engage in foot-dragging for a few days but it won’t last long,” columnist Sami Kohen told Reuters.
Diplomats believe the four-month-old “dual power” arrangement between Gul and Erdogan, who has wielded enormous influence behind the scenes, has led to uncertainty in talks with the United States and in preparation of a 2003 budget crucial to a $16 billion IMF economic crisis programme.
A reversal of parliament’s decision on US troops would also revive a US offer of billions of dollars in grants and loans to shield Turkey’s fragile economy from the effects of a possible war.
Once confirmed as prime minister, Erdogan is expected to reshuffle the cabinet, including key posts such as deputy prime minister, economy minister and foreign minister, analysts say.
“Now everybody will know he’s the leader of the government as well as the party. From now on it will be one voice, not a two-headed administration,” Kohen said.
Erdogan must also deal with an impasse on the divided island of Cyprus, where the leader of Turkish Cyprus has opposed a deal on a U.N. peace plan ahead of the island’s accession to the European Union, seen as key to Turkey’s own ambitions to join the bloc.
Gul is set to resign as prime minister in the coming days. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is then expected to ask Erdogan to appoint a new government, which the president must approve before Erdogan becomes prime minister.
Interior Minister Abulkadir Aksu told Reuters Erdogan could be elected as prime minister and form his cabinet within days.
“We will definitely make all the changes to the government this week,” he said.—Reuters
