ANKARA - Former islamist Abdullah Gul was sworn in Tuesday as president of Turkey, pledging loyalty to the secular system and calling for respect for religious freedoms in his inaugural speech.
"The Turkish Republic is a democratic, secular and social state based on the rule of law... I will work with determination to protect and strengthen all those tenets," Gul told parliament after being sworn in following his election in a third-round parliamentary vote.
"The principle of secularism is both a model that ensures freedom for different lifestyles and a rule of social peace... The principle of secularism also includes freedom of conscience and religion," he said.
Gul, whose islamist past had triggered a virulent secularist campaign against his presidency, urged Turks to unite and tolerate their differences.
"If the principles of the constitution are firmly established and observed by everyone, our differences and diversity will not be our weakness but our wealth," he said.
Gul, the driving force behind Turkey's accession talks with the European Union as foreign minister since 2003, called for the continuation of reforms that would boost this mainly Muslim country's membership bid.
"We must conduct the reforms not because others demand them, but because our people need them," he said.
"A Turkey with a strong democracy, economy and armed forces will bring stability and peace to the region," he said. "Turkey should be a haven of security in this region."
In a gesture to the army, which is deeply mistrustful of the new president's past in religious politics and boycotted his oath-taking ceremony, Gul said the Turkish military's "deterrent power should be kept at a high level."
Earlier, Gul recited the presidential oath, pledging impartiality and loyalty to the secular system.
"I swear before the great Turkish nation... to be loyal to democracy and the secular Republic... and to conduct my duty impartially," he said, reading out a text enshrined in the constitution.
08/28/2007 16:05 GMT