turkey protest 2Hundreds of thousands of Turks protested today in the second anti-government, anti-AKP rally of the last few weeks, this time in Istanbul’s ÇaÄŸlayan Square.  The issue at stake is the candidacy of AKP member and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül for president, a nomination made last week and then voted on by Parliament on Friday in a contested first round of voting.  Opposition MPs boycotted the vote and are appealing to the constitutional court for a ruling on whether or not the vote was constitutional. 

On Friday night, shortly after the vote, the Turkish military issued a statement which seemed to indicate that it would act if necessary to preserve what it sees as Turkey’s essential secular character.  (The Turkish military is known for its strong stance in favor of Turkish secularism; it has ousted 4 governments in the last 50 years, most recently in 1997.)  Gül made an equally strong display of confidence, saying that he would not bow out of the contest.     

A constitutional court ruling is expected by Tuesday or Wednesday.  A second round of voting for the post is (at the moment) also set for Wednesday.  If the opposition to the first vote is upheld by the court, Prime Minister Erdoğan will be forced to call an early parliamentary election.