The Turkish Parliament, acting in accord with the will of the people as expressed in recent elections, have defied the Turkish military and elected Abdullah Gul as the nation's new president.

Beaming as the votes were counted, a veteran government figure with roots in political Islam won a parliamentary vote to become Turkey's president Tuesday, in defiance of the country's strongly secular military. Abdullah Gul's triumph presented Turkey's generals with a choice: overthrow Gul in what would be a deeply unpopular coup or accommodate the rise of political Islam in the Muslim world's most rigidly secular state.

Gul immediately sought to reassure the military and other doubters. "Turkey is a secular democracy. . . . These are basic values of our republic, and I will defend and strengthen these values," he told parliament after taking the oath as Turkey's 11th president.

Many Turks say the popularity of Gul's mildly Islamic Justice and Development Party after five years in power, and the unprecedented economic prosperity it has brought, will probably shield it from any immediate putsch. Turkey's military sees itself as the guardian of the secular state established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. Generals have driven out four governments since 1960, including an overtly Islamic government in the 1990s in which Gul held a cabinet post.

The election of Gul, as I noted yesterday, offers a model for the Muslim world of a Democratic government that respects Islamic values while not imposing a sharia-based theocracy. The Bush administration needs to strongly support Gul's election, and make it clear to the Turkish military that any attempt to undo it will not receive favorable treatment from Washington.

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