TURKEY: Turkey's first Islamist premier, Mr Necmettin Erbakan, said yesterday he would stand as an independent candidate in November's general elections after a court erased a conviction that banned him from politics.
The High Election Board must still approve Mr Erbakan's bid to run for parliament from the conservative central Turkish city of Konya. The decision is expected next week.
Mr Erbakan (76), was banned from political life for five years in 2000 for "inciting hatred" in a speech he gave in 1994. His prison term was later suspended.
The conviction was expunged from the record on Tuesday after a court ruled that changes made to the penal code after his sentencing applied to his case.
Mr Erbakan was forced to resign as prime minister in 1997 after the powerful military, self-appointed guardians of Muslim Turkey's strictly secular order, launched a crackdown on Islamist politicians. His Welfare Party was shut down a year later on charges that it was a centre of Islamic fundamentalism.
The 76-year-old architect of political Islam in Turkey wields considerable influence over the Saadet Party, one of two groupings now in parliament with roots in the Welfare Party.
Saadet has fared poorly in opinion polls, failing to garner the 10 per cent of the popular vote needed for a party to enter the general assembly. The more moderate Justice and Development Party (AKP) maintains a huge lead in surveys. A recent poll showed one in four Turks would vote for AKP.
Meanwhile, Turkish parties officially submitted their lists of candidates for the general election yesterday amid widespread concern that MPs not chosen to stand or unhappy with their rankings on the lists would try to delay the poll. - (Reuters, AFP)