Open to All

By Süleyman Kurt, "Gül’s first year as president: opening the palace to the people" - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey
Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ankara: During his first year as president, Abdullah Gül has addressed some of Turkey’s most important problems, showing that his doors are open to all.

Gül, who was elected president by Parliament on Aug. 28 of last year, described the fundamental tenets of his presidency in his speech after taking oath.

“I will embrace all citizens without discrimination during my time in office. I will preserve my impartiality and do my best to ensure that state institutions work in harmony.”

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Gül has made the palace an important foreign policy actor. He has recommenced high-level relations with Central Asian and Caucasian countries, opened Turkey’s doors to its neighbors and underlined that Turkey’s EU membership is the most important goal of his presidency.

For his first trip as president, Gül visited Van, Hakkari, Şırnak, Siirt and Diyarbakır. The four-day visit, which began with demonstrations of joy at his visit, was important because it showed the importance the president has attached to the resolution of problems in the region and to combating terror.

Gül has visited 14 cities in Turkey as president. Unlike his predecessor Sezer, he attended the Şeb-i Arus ceremonies held in Konya on Dec. 17, which commemorated Sufi philosopher Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi.

He also delivered a message of unification at Hacıbektaş, where primarily Alevi citizens gather every year to commemorate Sufi philosopher Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli.

Palace dinners
In his palace dinners, President Abdullah Gül has received some of Turkey’s most renowned artists, historians, novelists and intellectuals.

His first guests were historian Halil İnalcık and Professor Talat Sait Hamlan. Since then he has hosted Elif Şafak, Selim İleri, İlber Ortaylı, Adalet Ağaoğlu, Rasim Özdenören, Hilmi Yavuz, Doğan Hızlan, Orhan Gencebay, Neşet Ertaş, Zara, Ahmet Özhan, Mazhar Alanson, Rengim Gökmen, Yılmaz Öztuna, Faruk Loğoğlu, İbrahim Kalın and Güven Sak.

At one such dinner, legendary folk singer Neşet Ertaş performed, singing the famous folk song “Divane Gönlüm”.