ANKARA - Outgoing Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer Thursday refused to approve the new government in a "gesture" to his successor who is to be elected soon, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
"It was a surprise for me... Without even seeing the list, he said it would be more appropriate if the new president approves the cabinet," Erdogan told reporters after a brief meeting with Sezer.
"In my opinion, it was a very positive approach... We can call it a gesture," he added.
The parliament convenes Monday for a series of votes to elect a successor to Sezer, a staunchly secularist former judge who has often clashed with Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) candidate, is almost certain to be elected in the later stages of voting in parliament, where his party holds a solid majority.
The AKP, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, won a second five-year term to govern Turkey in snap general elections on July 22, prompted by a political crisis in April over its initial bid to install Gul as president.
On Wednesday, Erdogan had urged Sezer not to reject the new cabinet.
"I am putting together a team of people who have won elections... I would best know who should serve where," he said. "I believe the president will be understanding in this respect."
Sezer has often rejected the appointment of senior officials he saw as Islamist government cronies and vetoed laws he deemed to be in conflict with the country's strictly secular system.
Erdogan gave few details on the make-up of the new government, saying only that he plans to increase the number of his ministers by two to 24 and make changes to the main portfolios in the future.
"The new cabinet will be a cabinet aiming at stability," he said.
Turkish newspapers have suggested Erdogan will opt for an extensive reshuffle in his outgoing cabinet and include also new party recruits.
Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan is viewed in the press as the strongest candidate to become the "coordinating minister" topping all economy-related portfolios under a new administrative structure to manage Turkey's booming 400-billion-dollar (300-billion-euro) economy.
Once the new president approves the cabinet, Erdogan will read out his government programme in parliament and seek a vote of confidence.
The prime minister was forced to bring elections forward from November after his party twice failed in April and May to elect Gul as president when the opposition boycotted the vote in parliament.
The crisis worsened with a threatening statement from the army and mass street protests against the prospect of a president from the AKP, which secularists accuse of seeking to erode the separation of state and religion.
The AKP, which garnered 46.58 percent of last month's vote, denies the charges.
08/16/2007 14:45 GMT