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One more step closer to a revived Islamic caliphate. Turkey bears watching, imo.

Putin congratulates Gul on election to Turkish presidency - "I warmly recall all of our meetings. I am confident that mutual understanding will mark our joint work in the future in order and bring bilateral relations to a new level of the advanced multifaceted partnership."

Given the Turkish military’s propensity to overthrow the country’s government, Gul might not be around all that long - if he does not exercise his veto power over legislation passed by parliament under the leadership of political ally Erdogan that is perceived to pull the country towards Islamism.

The Army overthrows the country's government when the government (elected) leaders go too far off the secular path. Then it's simply a matter of new elections.

This Asian Times news item from a couple or three years ago 'splains a little for those who do not know.

. . .the first-ever Islamist premier, Necmettin Erbakan, then heading a coalition with a secular party, was forced to leave in 1997 for not curbing increasing fundamentalism in Turkey . . . direct military [takeover was] avoided. The military intervened directly in 1960 and 1980 when politicians had brought the country to an impasse. But after cleaning up the mess and getting a new constitution in place, the armed forces, as usual, returned to their barracks.

Another contentious item for the armed forces and the AKP is the purge of Islamists from the military. The military is not happy that the purged Islamists are sometimes given government jobs.

The AKP has direct connections to that 1997 Islamist effort.