•What is Erdogan’s political background?

Erdogan joined politics with the National Salvation Party, which was disbanded following the 1980 Turkish coup d’état. He re-entered politics through the Welfare Party, founded by former members of the National Salvation Party. He rose to prominence when he became the mayor of Istanbul in 1994. Islamist politics entered a period of chaos during this period and Erdogan himself added to this with his various pro-Islamist statements, which finally led to his conviction in 1998. In 1997, the Welfare Party was declared unconstitutional and was shut down on the grounds of threatening the secular nature of the state. Erdogan’s current party, the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalknma Partisi or AKP) is the descendant of the Welfare Party.

•And Abdullah Gul?

In 2007, Erdogan selected Abdullah Gül as a presidential candidate, drawing strong opposition from ardent supporters of secularism in Turkey.

In May 2007, Gül’s first bid for presidency was blocked by the Constitutional Court in a climate of secularist concern regarding views Gül had expressed during his Welfare Party years, and the fact that his wife, Hayrünnisa Gül, wears a headscarf, seen by some as a symbol of political Islam.