Founded in 1922 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881–1938), the Republican People's Party (RPP) was the ruling party of the Turkish Republic from 1923 to 1950 and held power in coalition governments in the 1960s and 1970s. After the military...

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A freshly elected parliament, still dominated by the Islamic-leaning ruling party, was sworn in Saturday and expected to quickly take up the highly contentious issue of picking a new president.An opposition leader, meanwhile, warned that the new government should preserve Turkey's long-held secular principles _...

A Turkish presidential hopeful whose candidacy raised fears about the possible blurring of the line between mosque and state said Tuesday his goals would be strengthening secularism and the country's bid for European Union membership.Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul spoke after submitting to parliament his application...

Turkey's Islamic-oriented ruling party decided Monday to renominate the religious-leaning foreign minister for president, raising the possibility of another showdown with secular factions, including the military.When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed Abdullah Gul as his party's candidate earlier this year, opposition groups accused Gul...

Turkish lawmakers moved up elections to July 22 on Thursday, after the Islamic-rooted ruling party and its secular opposition agreed that an early ballot was the only way out of their standoff over political Islam.The vote was unanimous despite objections from opposition legislators, who said...