Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/former-islamist-gul-becomes-turkeys-president Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was sworn in Tuesday as the country's 11th president and the first with a background in political Islam. Two experts outline the concerns some have that the government will become less secular under his regime. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JUDY WOODRUFF: Legislators from Turkey's ruling party broke into applause when parliament elected Abdullah Gul as the country's first president with roots in the Islamist political movement. It was a historic moment for this overwhelmingly Muslim nation that has had a secular tradition since its founding as a modern country almost a century ago.Gul was approved by a simple parliamentary majority today in Ankara. Following constitutional rules, that vote came after two failed attempts to gain a two-thirds majority.Gul has been serving as Turkey's foreign minister since 2003. That's when the Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, was first elected, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan became prime minister. During that time, Gul steered Turkey toward reforms that led to negotiations over joining the European Union.But because of Gul's and the AKP's Islamist identity, Gul became the center of controversy when Erdogan nominated him last spring to become president. The symbol of contention was the Muslim headscarves worn by Gul's wife. Such scarves are banned in public universities and for public employees in public buildings, including the presidential palace. TURKISH CITIZEN (through translator): If someone whose wife is uncovered can be president, then someone whose wife is covered can also be president. It is a democracy. TURKISH CITIZEN (through translator): We want a president whose wife is not covered and who is committed to democracy and is capable of representing us. JUDY WOODRUFF: It was the secularists who took to the street by the thousands in recent months, and secular influences in parliament and the courts had succeeded in blocking Gul's nomination. As a result, Erdogan called new parliamentary elections for July to break the deadlock. Riding a tide of strong economic growth, Erdogan's party won those elections resoundingly, and he re-nominated Gul for the presidency.But the military, which considers itself the guardian of the secularist traditions of modern Turkey's founder Kemal Ataturk, indicated it may yet balk at the change. In the past 50 years, the military has overthrown four elected governments. Notably, military leaders stayed away from today's parliamentary vote and put out this statement: Quote, "Nefarious plans to ruin Turkey's secular and democratic nature emerge in different forms every day. The military will, just as it has so far, keep its determination to guard social, democratic and secular Turkey," end quote.For his part, Gul pledged again today to uphold the country's secularism.