Abdullah Gul, Turkey's new president as of yesterday Corina Ciubotaru

Turkey has a new president starting yesterday and on the surface, it seems there could be no better choice for the country. He used to be the country's foreign minister so he has good relations with people from the E.U. and the U.S. Turkey has wanted to become an E.U. member for years and now the president of the EU commission welcomed Mr. Gul as the new leader of this country. Mr. Bush also congratulated him by phone. Turkey has the biggest army in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation after the Americans, and it's just this army that can make Abdullah Gul's life hard as President. His term should normally last for seven years but since some generals didn't show up to his ceremonial confirmation, analysts are right to be worried about the relationship between them, which can lead to an abrupt end to his regime. The military want the country's leader to continue on the secular path created by the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. On the other hand, the E.U. would like the army to retreat from political life in order to accept the country as a new member. Turkey is halfway between Europe and the Middle East so a military regime wouldn't be quite to the liking of peace-loving Europeans. Gul has declared a number of times that his goal is for nobody in the country to be discriminated against anymore and that he intends to keep the Islam and the affairs of the state separate. If he succeeds then Turkey just might be another capitalism success story.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070828/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey;_ylt=Apd7qu0M7G2HEj6yizk4F7us0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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