President Gül will not reject premier’s seat if AKP asks, Deputy PM Arınç says

President Abdullah Gül would not reject the position of prime minister if the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appoints him under the possible presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after the Aug. 10 elections, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said.

Speaking to daily Hürriyet’s Fatih Çekirge, Arınç said an interim premier will be assigned if Erdoğan is elected president in August.  A new leader of AKP will be elected at a general party convention in October, he added.

“At the October convention, if the AKP points at Abdullah Gül [for the seat of prime minister], of course Mr. Gül would not reject this request. He would be a candidate,” Arınç said. “Gül is a friend of ours who is loved by the nation. He served as the president successfully. He suits the top of our party. There is no the three-term rule for him as he has had a break for seven years.”

Gül previously said in April that he had no political plans for the future under the given conditions, which was widely interpreted to mean he did not want to become a “puppet” prime minister under Erdoğan’s presidency.

Erdoğan’s presidential candidacy was announced by the AKP at a ceremony in Ankara that was attended by 4,000 supporters on July 1. The Turkish PM made clear in his speech that he wanted to be elected president in the first round of the Aug. 10 elections, in which a vote of 50 percent plus one is needed.