Turkey suit

If Turkey's president-in-waiting harbours an Islamist agenda, it should become clear when Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Abdullah Gul wins an absolute majority this week.

In the first round of presidential elections last week, Gul, currently caretaker foreign minister and deputy prime minister, received 341 votes in the 550-seat parliament. He can be reasonably certain of being elected president at the latest on Tuesday, when an absolute majority of 276 votes will suffice.

The result will solve Turkey's immediate political crisis. It promises enhanced stability and improved governance in the near term, though conflicts between secularists and religiously inclined conservatives, Turkish and Kurdish nationalists, and the military and elected politicians will continue to manifest themselves in sporadic, but potentially destabilising, skirmishes.

Wags will advise scrutinising the wardrobe of the Turkey's future first lady for signs of a latent Islamist agenda. A Vienna-based couturier has been asked to give Hayrunisa Gul a comprehensive makeover to modernise her look.  Sartorial piety will prevail: the new wardrobe will still include Mrs Gul's headscarf, which has caused such controversy in strictly secular Turkey.