Military

DATE=03/11/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=TURKEY / PRIME MINISTER (L-O)

NUMBER=2-300563

BYLINE=AMBERIN ZAMAN

DATELINE=ANKARA

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul resigned Tuesday, clearing the way for Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party, to take charge of the country. As Amberin Zaman reports from Ankara, Mr. Erdogan qualified to become prime minister after winning a parliamentary seat in a by-election in the southeastern province of Siirt.

TEXT: Mr. Gul submitted his resignation to Turkey's president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who a short while later asked Mr. Erdogan to form a new government.

Mr. Gul served only a brief time as prime minister. He was sworn in on November 27 after the Justice and Development Party swept to power in nationwide elections earlier that month.

At the time, Mr. Erdogan, even though he was the leader of the Justice and Development Party, was unable to become prime minister because of a prior conviction on sedition charges. This was one of a series of legal hurdles he has faced since launching his political career over a decade ago in an overtly pro-Islamic and anti-Western group. But since his party now dominates the legislature, it was able pass a raft of constitutional reforms that enabled Mr. Erdogan to run for a parliamentary seat and now become prime minister.

Mr. Erdogan has since abandoned his pro-Islamic rhetoric and says Turkey should be part of Europe while maintaining its close strategic ties with the United States.

He is also a strong advocate of a measure that parliament rejected on March 1. The bill, if approved, would have allowed the deployment of U-S combat troops in Turkey. In the event of war in Iraq, those forces would be in a position to enter Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and from there open a second front against Iraqi forces.

It remains unclear whether Mr. Erdogan will seek to resubmit the bill even though the leaders of Turkey's armed forces say they favor the country's engagement in a war on the side of the United States. (Signed)

NEB/AZ/KL/MEM