Islamic moderate named Turkey PM

Abdullah Gül, the deputy leader of the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AK), was asked to become the new prime minister of Turkey on 16 November 2002 by the country's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The appointment follows a fortnight of speculation about who would take on the role after the AK party secured victory in the parliamentary elections on 3 November 2002 but the party's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was prevented from becoming prime minister because of a 1998 conviction for inciting hatred on religious grounds.

ESO: In Focus: Turkey: Abdullah Gül appointed as new prime minister, November 2002 http://www.europeansources.info/record/turkey-abdullah-gul-appointed-as-new-prime-minister-november-2002/

http://consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/declarations/73232.pdf http://consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/declarations/73232.pdf

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