Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, had to withdraw his bid to replace President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who was due to step down in May.

ECONOMIST: Turkey and its army

Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Turkey 's new president, overruled a military-inspired decree permitting the government to sack bureaucrats it considered not secular enough, or too pro-Kurdish.

ECONOMIST: Bomb terror

Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a judge who has just become president with the support of all the big political parties, has called for reform of the constitution.

ECONOMIST: A survey of Turkey