Turkey’s Court Cancels Election
Turkey’s highest court has annulled a presidential election that had been dominated by concerns over the rising influence of political Islam. An association of Turkish industrialists and businessmen, TUSIAD, urged the government to call for an immediate general election. As many as 700,000 protesters took to the streets in Istanbul to demand the resignation of the government..
Opposition legislators challenged the validity of the election in the Constitutional Court. The court’s decision to declare the election invalid is likely to worsen tensions between the secular establishment, backed by the military, and the Islamists who currently hold power. The governing party’s candidate failed to win a first-round victory.
Turkey has been an example of a Muslim country with a secular government which has encouraged modernization. The military, which has ousted four elected governments since 1960, issued a stern warning. The threat of a possible military coup rocked Turkey’s financial markets.