The Gul Alternative to Erdogan
Turkey’s president has positioned himself as a unifier following the Gezi Park protests.
One of the questions frequently asked about balances in established politics and their future is whether an alternative could emerge from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) ranks to their hard-line leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and whether the balance that the opposition cannot come up with could originate from inside the AKP.
Of course, one immediately remembers the divergences between Erdogan and Turkish President Abdullah Gul, which have been going on for a while. At the root of those divergences are the personal political career disagreements between the AKP co-founders.
The contradiction originates from the Cankaya Presidential Palace calculations of Gul and Erdogan. Erdogan wants to take over the palace, but Gul does not want to leave it unless a satisfactory alternative is offered for his post-presidency.
Gul wants another term after his current tenure ends in August 2014. To realize that, he would have to participate in the elections as the sole candidate supported by the AKP and become the first ever directly elected president.
