ANKARA Ñ Turkey's neighbors are watching with concern as an Islamic party prepares to assume power after a clear victory in this weekend's election which will allow it to govern without a coalition.
A spokesman for the party has opposed any participation by Turkey in a U.S.-led war on Iraq, and Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit has expressed concerns that the new government could change the the nation's secular constitution.
Turkey borders Iraq and contains NATO bases being used by Britain and the United
States.
The Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, was said to have
won 65 percent of seats in the 550-member parliament.
Twelve parties,
including all of those in the current coalition government of Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit, failed to win any seats.
The Islamic win comes as Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok leaves
for Washington on Monday for military cooperation talks with the United
States. Turkish government sources said Ozkok will be discussing a wish-list
of U.S. weapons Ankara seeks in exchange for its support for any
Washington-led war against Iraq.
The semi-official Anatolia news agency reported that with 99 percent of
the vote counted, the Justice and Development Party has won 34 percent of
the vote. Coming in second was the center-left Republican People's Party
with 19 percent of the vote. No other party crossed the 10 percent threshold
to enter parliament.
The Islamic-oriented party
has opposed Turkey's cooperation in any U.S. military campaign.
"We don't want there to be a war in Iraq," AKP vice president Abdullah
Gul said. "We will do all that we can to avoid a war which Turkey would be
dragged into."
Turkey's neighbors and allies are closely monitoring the emerging
Islamic government. They include Greece, Iran, Israel, Syria and the United
States.
Greece has been increasingly complaining of Turkish air space violations
in the disputed Aegean Sea. Greek Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said
his
country's military is "ready for every eventuality."
In Israel, former Israeli ambassador to Ankara, Zvi Alpeleg, said Turkey
would soon hold new elections. Alpeleg said the Justice and Development
Party could take Turkey back 80 years to the age of the Ottoman empire.
The military did not formally respond to the Islamic victory, which
could result in the formation of a government as early as the middle of the
month.
But Western diplomatic sources said the military will be cautious in
dealing with the Justice and Development Party, which won a clear majority
in Turkey's parliament and will form the next government. They cited the
overwhelming victory by the party and its capability to rule without any
coalition.
"The military is being closely watched by the European Union and the
United States and they will be crucial in Turkey's economic future," a
diplomat said. "The military doesn't want to be seen as the only force
blocking what is clearly an overwhelming victory."
The sources said a key element in any dispute will be whether Turkey
joins the United States in a war against Iraq. But Ecevit, regarded as close to the Turkish General Staff, expressed
concern
that a new Islamic-oriented government would change the secular constitution
in the nation.
"I carry those concerns," Ecevit said. "I hope this party respects the
secular and democratic regime."
Turkey's business community expressed concern that the Justice and
Development Party would violate an agreement for fiscal austerity reached
with the International Monetary Fund. The IMF and the World Bank have lent
Turkey billions of dollars as part of an economic recovery program.
"AKP is ready to take responsibility to build up the political will to
accelerate the European Union entry process and to strengthen the
integration of our economy with the world economy and the implementation of
the economic program," party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Diplomatic sources said the military would exercise greater caution than
during its previous confrontation with an Islamic-oriented government. In
1997, pro-Islamic Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, the first to rise to
head a government in modern Turkey, was forced out of office by the
military. Erbakan had sought to build an Islamic coalition that included
Iran and wooed such countries as Libya.
The leader of the Justice and Development Party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
was a member of Erbakan's party as well as mayor of Istanbul. Erdogan, now
48, was
jailed in 1999 for incitement to religious hatred and banned from running in
parliamentary elections.
