BY OKAY GONENSIN
VATAN- The reason for the political crisis which caused Turkey to hold early elections last month was the blocking of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul being elected president. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) upped the tension and then a legal reason making the election impossible was found; the General Staff issued a Internet notice saying that it doesn't want somebody from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) whose wife wears a headscarf to become president. Then elections were held and this question went to the people. In last month's general elections one out of every two voters supported the AKP and Gul. It has already become unnecessary and meaningless to discuss this result through citing forced reasons or imaginary analyses. Complex legal discussions and gauging the importance of public demonstrations which criticized Gul's candidacy are things of the past. The ballot box gave a mandate to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and criticized how Gul's presidency was blocked. We can't say how important the Gul issue is for voters. But research indicates that the more Erdogan highlighted this issue, the more people leaned towards the AKP.
As the leader of a party which won a great election success, Erdogan got the right to have the real voice in the presidential elections. He could have also considered other candidates in order not to cause a crisis at the beginning of his party's second term. It's always right to consider other efforts and alternatives in every situation. As far as I know, Erdogan made such efforts, but in fact only one reason remained for not seeking Gul's candidacy. This reason is related to the criticism of the General Staff which intervened in April's aborted presidential election.
Obviously, many people will find it difficult to stomach it if somebody whose wife wears a headscarf and who has complained about Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights over the headscarf issue is elected president. But democracy requires this. Half of the country approved of Gul's candidacy and the other half has to respect this. Gul has held the posts of both foreign minister and prime minister (in late 2002 and early 2003 when Erdogan was clearing up his ban from holding office). Considering his presidency a harbinger of future `disasters' is a very exaggerated and excessively emotional reaction. While carrying out his duty at the top of the state, he will show if people were right to have doubts about him. We even wouldn't want to think about the possibility of any foreign intervention. Democracy is a real regime of `digestion' and listening to and understanding each other. No matter how we might resent seeing Mrs. Gul at the Presidential Palace, the way Gul performs his duty is the essential issue.