Aftermath of The Second Rally
On April 30, the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan told he would address the country amid the crisis over the presidential election that has pitted secularists, including the army, against his Islamist-rooted government.
On May 1 in his public address Prime Minister Erdoğan called for unity. He said: "Unity, togetherness, solidarity, these are the things we need most. We can overcome many problems so long as we treat each other with love,¨ he also said: "Turkey is growing and developing very fast ... We must protect this atmosphere of stability and tranquility,¨
On May 2 the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled (9-2) that the first round of the presidential elections as void due to insufficient participation. Haşim Kılıç and Sacit Adalı were the only two Constitutional court members who voted against this. Former presidential candidate Abdullah Gül stated that an election should be held as soon as possible and the people should elect the president directly. Erdoğan announced that there would be an early election on 24 June or 1 July. Erdoğan said that the constitutional court decision was a bullet to democracy. Late that night Sabih Kanadoğlu, a former justice in Turkish High Court of Appeals, objected the early vote and argued that it was unconstitutional. He also claimed that these attempts to maneuver around the law would lead to further crisis. Kanadoğlu was also the person who pointed out the "367 parliamentarian requirement" law. A new controversy arose with the approaching end of term of the current president Sezer on 16 May. Speaker of the Parliament Bülent Arınç stated that the current president "would have to unfortunately retire" which would make Arınç the proxy president until a president is elected. However lawmakers argue that the current president would continue to serve until a replacement is elected.
On May 3 Turkey's Parliament moved up elections to July 22 2007, after the Islamic-rooted ruling party and its secular opposition agreed that an early ballot was the only way out of their standoff over political Islam.
On May 4 the election calendar for the early election has been put forward. A total of 21 political parties have registered to run for the election. A CNN International QuickVote resulted in 24% Yes vs 76% No on a question whether or not the Turkish democracy was hurt by the warning of the Turkish military.
Read more about this topic: Republic Protests
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