Back to the Brink in Turkey?

aug 07

The re-nomination of Abdullah Gul for President has renewed concerns that Turkey could be plunged back into the political crisis that triggered early parliamentary elections last month ...

the hard-line secularist Republican People's Party, or CHP, reacted harshly. Its leader, Deniz Baykal, denounced his nomination as a threat to the "peace and stability of this country." He told a Turkish newspaper, "If Gul is elected, Turkey's political balances will change . Turkey will be transformed into a country with an overbearing religious and Middle Eastern identity." Some Turkish business leaders have also called for alternate candidates to step forward in order to prevent renewed political instability.