In his five years as foreign minister, Abdullah Gul has steered Turkey's bid to join the European Union and has been at the forefront of pushing reforms, such as abolishing the death penalty and strengthening human rights. - Photo courtesy of AbdullahGul. image:33371:0::0

Ankara - After months of political uncertainty, controversial court decisions, protests on the streets and public warnings from the armed forces, former Islamist Abdullah Gul was finally elected to the presidency on Tuesday.

By Christopher Wade

It was the end to a political battle that pitched secularists and the armed forces against the overwhelmingly popular government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

A battle that the AKP won but which saw new President Gul, 56, go out of his way to calm the fears of his opponents.

"I will represent all citizens. I will be totally impartial," Gul told parliament Tuesday night after his swearing-in ceremony.

"Turkey is a democratic and secular republic based on social justice. These are the basic values of the constitution. We should defend and work to strengthen these values."

Soothing words, but for secularists there is still deep suspicion that Gul puts his religious beliefs above those of the founding values of the Turkish republic.

"Mr Gul, do not ever forget what you swore (to protect)," the front page of Radikal newspaper read on Wednesday.

Nobody can dispute that Gul has been a successful politician. In his five years as foreign minister, Gul has steered Turkey's bid to join the European Union and has been at the forefront of pushing reforms, such as abolishing the death penalty and strengthening human rights.

If the contest was based purely on his political achievements, no- one would lose any sleep knowing that Gul will now be occupying the Presidential Palace for the next seven years.

Governments in the West also seem happy that Gul, who speaks perfect English and has a good rapport with foreign officials, will be taking charge, but the liberal elite and hardline secularists in the army fear that with Gul in power the AKP will now have no barrier to watering down the secular traditions of the state put in place by the founder of the modern Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

In many ways the symbol of the battle is not Gul himself but his wife Hayrunisa.

In a country were the headscarf is banned in state offices and universities, Hayrunisa Gul will be the first wife of a president to wear the covering.

Even more galling to secularists is the fact that the headscarf preferred by Harunisa Gul is not that of a traditional Turkish scarf but an extremely close fitting scarf until recently not seen outside the most conservative towns.

Gul has dismissed criticism of his wife's clothing, saying it is irrelevant.

"I will be the president. Not my wife. I see the headscarf as a personal matter ... It is not illegal," Gul said during the election campaign.

The headscarf though is just a symbol, the real fear that brought more than 1 million people to the streets in protest in April and June is that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will now attempt to ram through a secret Islamist agenda, and this time there will be no presidential checks to stop him.

Erdogan publicly floated the idea of criminalizing adultery, and AKP municipalities tried to implement alcohol "red light" zones until forced to back down.

Erdogan also attempted to appoint dozens of allies to important state positions, including an Islamist as head of the Central Bank, but was constantly blocked by former president Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

Gul will now have the power to approve such appointments and is in the position to alter radically the judiciary which until now has always upheld secular laws such as the bans on the headscarf in public offices and schools.

Commentators in Turkey do not believe there will be any quick push by Erdogan to exploit the fact he now has an ally in the presidency. What may be the biggest change will be the way Gul uses the presidency on the foreign policy front.

In a recent meeting with foreign reporters Gul said he would be an activist president, pushing hard for Turkey's interests in the region and in its bid to join the European Union.

Whatever he does, Gul will be watched closely. Any hint that he is attempting to water down separations of religion and public life will be immediately condemned by the secular press and, more importantly by the army.

"Unfortunately every day in different ways plans come up that aim to undo modern advances and destroy the Turkish republic's secular and democratic structure," army chief General Yasar Buyukyanit said less than 24 hours before Gul was elected president.

"Our nation is watching very carefully at the centres of evil that are trying to undermine the secular system."

Statements from the military in Turkey are taken seriously. The military has carried out three coups and managed to force Turkey's first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, out of power in 1997.

For the moment there is no prospect of the military taking any action. At the same time though the generals are looking very closely at what their commander-in-chief plans for the future.