Turkey's Gul: from Islamist minister to president

By Emma Ross-Thomas

ANKARA (Reuters) - Ousted from government by Turkey's army 10 years ago, Abdullah Gul's political rehabilitation was completed on Tuesday when the former Islamist was elected as the country's president.

Foreign Minister Gul won the third round of voting in parliament, four months after the Islamist-rooted AK Party's first attempt to have him made head of state was stymied by the powerful secular elite, including army generals.

Gul's candidacy was always controversial because of his Islamist past and the fact that his wife wears the Muslim-style headscarf, which staunch secularists consider a political act of defiance in the officially secular country.

The headscarf is banned from public offices and universities, though more than half of Turkish women wear some form of the garment.

Less attention has been paid to Gul's qualifications.

Ever-smiling, the 56-year-old is a calm diplomat who as foreign minister has overseen Turkey's difficult bid to join the European Union, while championing political and human rights reform at home and raising the country's profile abroad.

"The rose season (starts)," said Islamist-leaning daily Yeni Safak, referring to Gul's name, which means rose in Turkish.

Gul served briefly as premier when the AK Party first swept to power in November 2002, while his close ally Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was still banned from national politics.