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ANKARA: Term Row Dismays President Gul, Too

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  • ANKARA: Term Row Dismays President Gul, Too

    TERM ROW DISMAYS PRESIDENT GUL, TOO

    Hurriyet Daily News
    Dec 29 2011
    Turkey

    President Abdullah Gul has expressed frustration at the continued
    debate over the length of his term in office, urging politicians to
    make a swift decision on the matter.

    "I won't say anything about the length of my mandate. I hope very
    much that a decision on this is made in the shortest possible time
    because the situation is becoming awkward," Gul said told the private
    Kanal 24 channel late Dec. 27.

    The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said Gul's mandate
    should be seven years - meaning that it would be exempted from
    constitutional amendments passed in 2007 reducing presidential terms
    to five years. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen as the
    strongest contender to succeed Gul as head of state, and political
    pundits have suggested that Gul may return to the AKP helm and
    eventually become prime minister.

    "I don't have any political ambitions or expectations. There is nothing
    like that on my mind," Gul said, but added that he did not believe in
    "retirement in life."

    He said he had served at every level in politics before the
    presidency. "It is obvious what I can do afterwards. I [participated
    in] politics and came here."

    Gul also denied that he aspired to become the United Nations'
    secretary-general.

    Warning on rights breaches

    The president also voiced discomfort over lengthy pre-trial detentions
    and said Turkey's international prestige could suffer over restrictions
    on free speech and media.

    "As far as I can see, the detention periods have begun to hurt public
    sensitivities. A way must be definitely found to shorten them," he
    said. "Those who have done wrong should be held accountable. But we
    cannot be at ease if anyone spends even half an hour in jail unjustly."

    Gul said democracy, human rights and free speech were at the core of
    Turkey's "soft power" and progress made in recent years should not
    be overshadowed.

    "I see that complaints are on the rise. I see some developments
    at the United Nations concerning human rights issues [in Turkey]
    that are not good. We have to prevent Turkey from falling among the
    countries with whom it should not be seen together," he said.

    PKK is being shown its place

    Touching on the Kurdish issue, Gul said using "police-state methods" to
    combat the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its supporters
    would be "unthinkable," but added that "authority in some provinces
    has been taken over by others."

    The PKK, he said, had the misconception that reforms expanding Kurdish
    freedoms came as a result of its violent campaign against the state.

    "If the terror organization believes it is stronger and has the upper
    hand, it has to be shown that this is not the case. And this is what is
    happening at present," he said, praising better coordination between
    the security forces against the PKK.

    Gul said Turkey's reform process had put civilian-military relations
    "on a democratic track" and that the military had now "pulled back
    to its area of responsibility."

    The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of
    the international community.

    Sarkozy will be ignored

    Commenting on tensions with France over a bill outlawing the denial
    of the 1915 events as genocide, Gul said he would ignore his French
    counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, the next time the two encounter each
    other in response to the latter's refusal to speak about the issue
    by phone.

    "He ignored me, so I will [ignore him]," he said.

    France, the cradle of civil rights, has put itself in an awkward
    position "by punishing thoughts that contradict the official line of
    the sate," Gul said. "It is incredible that they do this on account
    of petty political calculations."

    He said he hoped the bill, which was approved in the French
    Parliament's lower house last week, would be stopped before reaching
    the Senate, and added that Turkish researchers should produce
    "credible" studies to counter Armenian allegations.

    Turkey is not competing with France over regional influence, he
    also said. "Everybody must be happy if we use our regional power
    constructively."

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