Gul withdraws from Turkey presidential race

Turkey’s foreign minister withdrew his presidential candidacy on Sunday because Parliament failed again to reach a quorum in voting that pitted the secular establishment against his religious-oriented party...

Turkey’s foreign minister withdrew his presidential candidacy on Sunday because Parliament failed again to reach a quorum in voting that pitted the secular establishment against his religious-oriented party, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Abdullah Gul, a close ally of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was the sole candidate in the country’s presidential elections. Parliament was short of the 367 legislators needed to press ahead with the voting, after two separate roll calls, Speaker Bulent Arinc said.

“I am withdrawing my candidacy,” Gul was quoted as saying by Anatolia. “My candidacy is out of the question at this point.”

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Sunday’s vote was a repeat of a first-round of elections which the Constitutional Court, siding with the secular opposition, cancelled last week on grounds that there was no quorum. Legislators from the secular party — which boycotted the first-round of voting — kept away from the vote again on Sunday.

The presidential elections have exposed a deepening divide between secularists and supporters of Erdogan’s party. Secularists oppose Gul’s candidacy, fearing that Erdogan’s party will expand its control and impose religion on society.

Erdogan’s ruling party, an advocate of European Union membership, rejects the label of Islamist and has done more than any other government to introduce Western reforms to the country.

Turkey’s secularism is enshrined in the constitution and fiercely guarded by the judiciary and the powerful military. There has been increasing pressure in recent weeks from the public and the military, which has threatened to intervene in the presidential elections to ensure secularism is enforced.