Could Gul Have Become President?

BY CUNEYT ULSEVER
HURRIYET - Last month's first round of the presidential election in Parliament was annulled through a novel Constitutional Court interpretation of Article 102. The Parliament didn't have 367 votes, the president couldn't be elected, and a decision to hold early elections was taken. Although the situation was clear beforehand, the General Staff announced on the Internet that evening that it didn't want Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to be president. Actually, this statement was made even though it was clear that Gul's election would be rejected by the Constitutional Court. The reason for this was unclear.
If the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) and the True Path Party (DYP) had shown up, Parliament would have had 367 votes, the election would have been held in the way the Constitutional Court wanted, and Gul would have been elected president. The fact that ANAVATAN and the DYP weren't there and so hindered the national will with an anti-democratic stance and caused chaotic developments was criticized greatly. I have also criticized this situation more than once.
On the other hand, subsequent developments led some to think the following: If Parliament had elected Gul president in spite of all the hurdles, Gul would never have taken office, and actually the Internet statement was stressing this. Some people looking back at the aborted election say Gul would never have taken the presidency. Certain intellectuals who had nothing to do with Kemalists and even supported the Justice and Development Party (AKP) also said that Vecdi Gonul or indeed any AKP member would never have been allowed to take the office.
Why am I writing about this? Some people who weren't in Parliament that day and whose stance and views are respected by members of the new Democratic Party (DP) - formed by a merger of the DYP and ANAVATAN - said that if they had been there and had helped elect Gul, the country's situation would have been worse and the AKP members know this too. Remember that just afterwards ANAVATAN leader Erkan Mumcu claimed that certain AKP Cabinet ministers knew about the General Staff Internet statement beforehand.
DYP leader Mehmet Agar and ANAVATAN leader Mumcu haven't responded to criticism of their sitting out the election. They have kept their silence on the issue. Obviously, history will make its own decision. Did the leaders of ANAVATAN and DYP follow the state's project on that day, or did they pull the country back from a dangerous precipice?