Ex-Islamist Numan Kurtulmus named Turkey's ruling party’s deputy leader October 4, 2012 - 19:52 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's ruling AK Party named former Islamist Numan Kurtulmus as a deputy party leader responsible for the economy on Thursday, October 4 in a sign the party was seeking to woo more conservative voters, Reuters said. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's party, in power for more than a decade, also gave roles to other senior figures from smaller rival parties in its administration as part of the overhaul, an effort to consolidate its support base for the coming electoral cycle. Kurtulmus, head of the recently dissolved Islamist-rooted HAS Party, and Suleyman Soylu, onetime leader of the conservative Democratic Party, were both rewarded with senior administrative roles. Soylu was named chief of research and development. The AK Party's 50-seat Central Decision and Executive Council was selected on Sunday at the party's congress and the main executive body of the party - the 19-member Central Executive Board - was chosen by Erdogan on Thursday. Mehmet Ali Sahin, Mustafa Sentop and Menderes Turel were also appointed to deputy leader positions in the party. Partner news  Top stories U.S. officials say they want to advance efforts to start talks between the Syrian government and opposition leaders. The international conference, backed by Russia and the U.S., aims to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria. Nuland, a career foreign service officer who was until recently State's top spokesperson, was expected to be nominated the post. Alkhatib said Assad should respond within 20 days and that he should then be given a month to dissolve parliament.   Partner news |  Latest news Israeli security expert says Syrian hacker attack foiled  Israel refuses to comment on the strike but officials at the time said Iranian missiles set for Hezbollah were hit.Gyumri to host Europe Day celebrations The celebrations will feature a small information fair, with EU project representatives to brief the visitors on the initiatives launched.1st Armenian interactive fairy tale available for iPhone/iPod Touch The tale sparked great interest in Diaspora. Such projects, namely interactive version of “Alice in Wonderland”, are popular abroad.Expert says Russian FM’s remarks in context of Madrid Principles No decisive developments will follow the meeting between Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, David Jamalyan said. |
