ANKARA - Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the sole candidate in Turkey's turbulent presidential election, has decided not to attend an international conference on Iraq in Egypt this week, officials said Tuesday.
State Minister Mehmet Aydin, who is responsible for religious affairs, would accompany senior diplomats and represent Turkey at the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday and Friday, a diplomat said.
The presidential election has sparked Turkey's most serious political crisis in recent years because of the prospect of parliament electing a politician with an Islamist background to the presidency.
Gul belongs to the ruling Justice and Development Party, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement.
The Constitutional Court was expected to rule Tuesday on an opposition demand to cancel the first round of voting, in which Gul narrowly missed being elected. A second round is scheduled for Wednesday.
05/01/2007 13:29 GMT