Gul is to pave the way for Erdogan to be Turkey’s premier in what is seen as a crucial back-up for U.S. war plan

SIIRT, Turkey, March 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Voting began Sunday, March 9, in a by-election in which the head of Turkey's ruling party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is expected win a seat in parliament, clearing the way for him to take over as Prime Minister and for the United States to deploy troops on the Turkish soil. 

The charismatic head of the Justice and Development (AKP) party is a candidate in the south-eastern province of Siirt, where 119,000 people are eligible to vote in election re-runs for three seats in the 550-member parliament, Agence France-Presse reported.

The AKP, a conservative movement with Islamist roots, came to power in November on a sweeping election victory. But Erdogan was not allowed to run because he once served a jail term for a fiery speech “inciting sedition.”

Since then he has been seen as the de facto leader behind Prime Minister Abdullah Gul.

But thanks to amendments passed by the AKP-dominated parliament, he can now stand in Siirt, where the November results were annulled due to voting irregularities.

It is seen as a near certainty that Erdogan will win one of the three seats in Siirt, making him eligible to become prime minister. Gul, a close Erdogan ally, has already indicated he will step down.

Four parties are standing in the by-election: Erdogan's AKP, the left of centre opposition People's Republican Party (CHP) and two small left-wing parties.

But only the AKP and CHP can win the three vacant seats, as the other parties failed to obtain the required 10 percent of the vote at national level in the November election.

According to the final opinion poll results AKP was expected to take all three seats.

The People's Democratic Party (DEHAP) which supports Turkey's separatist Kurdish minority, polled 32 percent at Siirt last November but only five percent at national level, and was therefore excluded from parliament, triggering it to boycott the by-election.

Five years ago in Siirt that Erdogan recited a poem that earned him a four-month jail term for "inciting religious hatred" under Turkey's strictly-secular political system.

"Mosques are our barracks, the minarets our bayonets, the domes our helmets and the believers our soldiers," Erdogan told his supporters in December 1997, a period of high tension between the secularist army and Islamist political movements.

He has since disavowed his Islamist views and now backs Turkey's secular system and its traditionally pro-Western orientation.

Election Of Erdogan Key For U.S.

The vote also comes at a critical juncture for Turkey and the AKP, as Erdogan's election is seen as key to regaining control over the party's rebellious lawmakers who blocked the deployment of 62,000 US troops in Turkey ahead of a possible conflict with Iraq.

Observers believe that the widely-anticipated election Erdogan should help Washington win Ankara's approval to deploy U.S. troops in the country ahead of any war in Iraq, observers believe.

Following parliament's rejection of the deployment of US troops in Turkey, the ruling AKP has hinted that it will request a second vote on the issue after Erdogan takes over as prime minister.

"Barring an extraordinary surprise, Erdogan will be elected to parliament. He will be prime minister in a few days and the motion will be brought again to parliament... And barring an extraordinary surprise, it will be approved," the daily Milliyet said.

The military warned Wednesday, March 5, that Turkey would lose both vital U.S. financial aid and the chance to protect its security interests in Kurdish-held northern Iraq if it denied support to its number one ally.

"We are grateful for this declaration. It was a perfect one," Erdogan said.

Also strengthening Erdogan's hand is a change of heart among anti-war deputies, many of whom - irked by rising hostilities between Ankara and the Iraqi Kurds - have come to believe that Turkey should back the United States in order to have a say in northern Iraq.

Turkey wants to send troops into the region of Iraq to keep the Kurds under control, but U.S. blessing for such a move is linked to Ankara's own green light to U.S. forces using its territory.