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Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist, has been elected president in a parliamentary vote.He is the first politician with an Islamist background to become head of state since the creation of the deeply secular Turkish Republic in 1923.Mr Gul was elected in a third round of voting, after months of tension between Turkey's ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party and the secular establishment.On Monday the military warned about threats to the secular constitution.Boost for EU talks
The European Union welcomed Mr Gul's election, calling it a positive step in the country's campaign to join the bloc. European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said the election was "an opportunity to give fresh, immediate and positive impetus to the accession process to the European Union through progress in a number of key areas".Turkey was made a candidate for EU membership in October 2005, but the talks are blocked on a number of fronts.Joost Lagendijk, the Euro-MP who leads the EU-Turkey delegation, called on Mr Gul to reassure critics he posed no threat to Turkey's secular order.Mr Gul, whose wife wears a Muslim headscarf, has pledged to respect Turkey's secular institutions.The headscarf is currently banned from public institutions in Turkey and Mr Gul has said wearing it is a matter of personal choice.Mr Gul secured 339 votes in the 550-seat parliament, which is dominated by the AKP, following the party's triumph in an early general election last month. He had needed a simple majority of 276 votes in the third round.Two earlier rounds after the election had not produced the two-thirds majority that Mr Gul needed.Mr Gul, who has established himself as a skilled diplomat by steering Turkey towards European Union entry talks, has pledged to be a ruler for all Turks.
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