Turkish vote a slap to military: Greek papers

ATHENS - Greek newspapers on Monday called the stunning electoral win by Turkey's governing party a slap to that country's secular military that will change relations between the regional rivals.
The elections saw Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party increase its share of the popular vote by more than 12 points from 2002 to 46.4 percent -- the largest for any single party since 1969.
"The new Turkish political scene hides traps that demand we adapt our policies," left-leaning Ta Nea wrote in an editorial.
"It is clear that for Turkey and for Turkish-Greek relations, the situation is now entirely different. To find out if it is better, we must wait for the powerful Erdogan's first moves."
Other papers wrote of the balancing act Erdogan will confront as his Islamist-rooted party faces opposition from secularists and nationalists.
"The new government is obliged now to find a delicate equilibrium" between the military, nationalists and the concerns of Washington, Ethnos newspaper wrote.

07/23/2007 10:33 GMT