Is Gul Credible?

Source: Hurriyet, Turkey, August 16, 2007

Since announcing his candidacy for president Abdullah Gul has been making promises; that he will abandon his AKP identity; that he will be an impartial president and embrace everybody; that he will protect secularism and all other founding principles of the republic; that he will be guided by the constitution and so on. Hurriyet columnist Mehmet Yilmaz is one of many columnists in the mainstream Turkish media who doubts his credibility.

"Gul's words said out of necessity and are nice to hear. But the public’s doubts stem mainly from Gul’s Islamist political past. Gul has never repudiated his past convictions, never acknowledged mistakes; and he has not given any information on his transformation process.

All that Gul, Erdogan and other members of AKP - all of whom have come from Milli Gorus Islamist movement - have said is that they have changed. If Gul wants to be credible, he must stop making empty promises and claims to the effect that he has changed, but tell us why and how?"