Turkish PM under pressure to reconcile

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

ANKARA (AFP) — Turkey's prime minister came under increased pressure Thursday to reconcile with secularist opponents after his party narrowly escaped a ban over charges that it was seeking an Islamist regime.

In an almost unanimous appeal, the press urged Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to abandon religion-inspired policies and launch fresh democratic reforms to restore confidence.

"The ball is now in Erdogan's court," the popular Milliyet newspaper wrote.

"The prime minister should consider concrete steps -- both on government and party level -- to eradicate people's worries over secularism," it said.

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday narrowly rejected a bid to outlaw the AKP for undermining the secular system,...