ANKARA Ñ Turkey has appointed pro-Islamic politician as its
caretaker prime minister as the nation's ruling party announced plans to
revise a $31 billion International Monetary Fund plan for Ankara.
Abdullah Gul, deputy chief of the Islamic-oriented Justice and
Development Party, was named prime minister in what is expected to be a
temporary appointment. The head of the party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is
fighting a ban on entering political office because of a conviction for
inciting religious hatred.
Erdogan has been lobbying legislators to revise the constitution to
allow him to become prime minister. Changing the
constitution requires two-thirds of parliament. Erdogan's party, known as
the AKP, has 363 seats, four short of the two-thirds majority.
"We've said, 'From now on, nothing will be the same in Turkey,'" Erdogan
said. "Now we're at the beginning of those days."
Erdogan said he would seek to revise the IMF recovery plan for Turkey,
which has provided more than $10 billion to revive the nation's economy. He
said the IMF plan has harmed Turkey's agriculture and social welfare sector.
Gul said he would name the members of his Cabinet on Monday and submit
them to Sezer for his approval. The prime minister-designate said he would
reduce the number of ministers from the current 35 to 24.
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