Public vote may resolve Turkey rift

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s parliament on Monday voted in favor of holding presidential elections by popular vote and staging general elections every four years – the first step toward a constitutional amendment the pro-Islamic government hopes will resolve a widening rift over religion.

On Sunday, pro-secular lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote – for the second time in just over a week – on the ruling party’s choice for president, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

He then dropped his bid for the post, saying parliament is deadlocked and the vote must go to the people.

At issue is the opposition’s fear that Gul, as a member of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pro-Islamic party, would allow religion to have an increasing influence on politics in this predominantly Muslim but secular country.

In Turkey, secularism is enshrined in the Constitution and fiercely guarded by the judiciary and the powerful military. Hundreds of thousands of pro-secular Turks took to the streets in recent weeks to protest the nominating of a candidate with Islamic leanings.

As the standoff deepened, Erdogan called early parliamentary elections and proposed overcoming the deadlock in parliament with a constitutional amendment allowing a popular vote for president.

Lawmakers voted in favor of the idea Monday.

Parliament must now approve the proposal with a two-thirds majority in a second round of voting, which could be held later this week.

Legislators from Erdogan’s party have said that if the amendment is passed on time, Turkey could hold general and presidential elections on the same day, July 22.