Hurriyet columnist Ahmet Hakan discusses the fight which has already started in Ankara about the possibility of election of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the new President of Turkey in 2007 in his article titled ''Fight of 'President Erdogan' Has Already Started' today.
In his article, Hakan lists the series of events that are probably going to happen in Ankara regarding the election process as follows:
''-Presidential elections will be held in April 2007 and the existing parliament will be in power until April 2007. Therefore the probability of early general elections is very small, almost none.
-Erdogan came to power with such a great victory after the general elections held on November 3rd, 2002 that he doesn't see the guarantee of winning elections with such a victory again.
-Erdogan will definitely want to be elected the President of the Republic of Turkey. It is unthinkable for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to consider any other nominee than Erdogan.
-There is neither a legal nor a political obstacle (in respect of the majority of AKP seats in the parliament) that stand in front of Erdogan's becoming the new president. This is the real situation in Turkey today.''
Hakan comments that the uneasiness of some circles about this 'bare reality' is the real cause of recent abnormalities and problems which have come up in Ankara suddenly.
''This fight will be a tough one,'' says Hakan and asks the question of whether AKP is ready to cope with such problems peacefully in times of crises or is AKP going to show a similar violent attitude like the ones who want to prevent election of Erdogan as the president in 2007?
''If AKP prefers to be a 'tough guy', those who want to start a fight will win, but if AKP prefers a calm and peaceful attitude, then Erdogan's road to the Presidential Palace will be much more safer,' he concludes his article.
2005-05-06