Turkish Winner To West: Fear Not

After an overwhelming victory in Turkey's elections, a party with Islamic roots pledged to maintain the nation's pro-Western stance, quickly moving to soothe worries that this crucial U.S. ally would undergo a radical shift toward Islam.

The Justice and Development Party won a parliamentary majority in Sunday's elections - the first time in 15 years that any party has been in a position to govern alone - largely due to voter fury over a devastated economy.

The win could concern Turkey's powerful and firmly secular military, which in the past forced a pro-Islamic government from power. However, the victorious Justice party stressed it didn't want confrontation.

Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly laid out stances reassuring to the military: support for secularism and for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

He even said that while he opposes military action against Iraq, Turkey could support it if it were approved by the United Nations, a position mirroring that of outgoing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.

"We will not spend our time dizzy with victory. We will build a Turkey where common sense prevails," Erdogan said at a huge celebration at party headquarters early Monday after the win became clear.

On the sidelines, a party official called on supporters not to shout religious slogans such as "Allah is Great!"

The vote came as the United States was trying to showcase Turkey as an example of a secular, democratic country that is overwhelmingly Muslim but has cast its future with the West. Turkey - NATO's only Muslim member - is crucial to any possible action against Iraq, which borders this nation.

Western leaders offered cautious welcome Monday to the Justice and Development Party, and many seemed relieved at its promise not to veer the country sharply toward a new path.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman said Monday in Greece that "Turkish people have a right to choose who will be their leaders and we ... look forward to working with the new Turkish government."

George Papandreou, foreign minister of Turkey's traditional rival Greece, offered congratulations and hoped for a "leap in our relations to resolve various long-standing and historical problems."

In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was "very encouraged" by the party's statements after its victory.

"It's not for me to say who should have won the Turkish election, we work with whatever government the Turkish people elect," he said.

In Germany, which has significant ties to Turkey due to its large Turkish immigrant population, the government said it viewed "the first signals favorably."

The Justice Party has its roots in Turkey's Islamist movement, but it has denied that it has any religious agenda. Erdogan leads the party, but has been banned from standing as a candidate because of a jail sentence he served in 1999 for publicly reading a poem that a court deemed anti-secular.

Monday, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit handed his resignation to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer who asked the ailing 77-year-old premier to stay on as caretaker until a new government is in place.

Sunday's election was five-time premier Ecevit's most dramatic electoral defeat in a 45-year political career. Ecevit has been in politics since 1957, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House.

Ecevit could remain in office for weeks.

Erdogan told the Milliyet newspaper in an interview that his party will meet Tuesday and Wednesday to decide on who to nominate as premier. The Justice party appeared to be just short of the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to change the constitution to allow Erdogan to become premier.

Under Turkey's complicated election rules, the Justice party's powerful hold on parliament was won despite a less than overwhelming show of popular support. With 99.9 percent of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan's party won 34 percent of the vote, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. The center-left Republican People's Party had 19 percent, Anatolia reported.

Other parties remained below the 10 percent threshold needed to enter parliament, meaning that the Justice party and the Republicans would divvy up all 550 seats. Projections by Anatolia showed the Justice party taking 363 seats - enough to rule without a coalition - and the Republicans winning 178.

Republican party leader Deniz Baykal refused Monday to describe Erdogan's party as a threat to Turkey's secular system. "Such accusations would put the country into distress," he said.

"We have to act in good faith. But I will retain caution," Baykal said. "The whole world will be watching developments very carefully."

Justice sought to calm the public and the markets with pledges of support for secularism, Turkey's bid to join the European Union and an International Monetary Fund austerity program.

"We have no intention to challenge the world," Erdogan told Dow Jones Newswires. "Under our government, Turkey will be in harmony with the world."

On the issue of Iraq, Erdogan said he hoped for a peaceful resolution. "We do not want war, blood, tears and dead in our region," Erdogan said. But, he added, "we are obliged by the United Nations' decisions."

Markets seemed not to be rattled by the party's victory. Shares had risen 5.3 percent on Istanbul's benchmark index in early trading Monday.

The election also marked the ouster of Turkey's longtime dominant political class. The party of outgoing Prime Minister Ecevit won only 1 percent of the vote and his coalition partners were below the 10 percent threshold needed for entry into parliament.

Ecevit expressed concern over the Justice party's Islamic roots. "I hope this party respects the secular and democratic regime," he said.

Former Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, Turkey's first female premier, announced Monday that she planned to step down as leader of the center-right True Path Party after it won about 9 percent of the vote.

The last time a leader from the Islamic movement led a government was in 1996, when Necmettin Erbakan became the first pro-Islamic premier to take office in Turkey.

Erbakan was forced from government in 1997 amid strong pressure from the military. At the time, Erdogan was a member of Erbakan's party and was mayor of Istanbul.