Turkey's former president Gül rules out any move to run for office

Taha Akyol - ISTANBUL

Former President Abdullah Gül will not run in June elections despite being invited to do so by his former Justice and Development Party (AKP) colleagues, according to sources in his circle.

Gül did not give a reason for his decision but he said that “I will not be a candidate” openly. 

The former president is about to move into his own house in Istanbul, moving from the Huber Köşk, a presidential facility where he had been living since he left the office. 

“I will move in a few days,” he told his close circle. 

Gül said the discussion over his candidacy was not his desire.

Gül plans to keep working as a statesman involved in foreign and domestic meetings, the sources said. 

Erdoğan said March 6 that it would be “felicitous and propitious” if Gül declared his candidacy to run in the upcoming general elections scheduled for June 7, as sources said the two founders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would soon meet to discuss the issue.  

On the way back to Ankara from New York on March 7, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu stressed the reputability of Gül among the founders of the party, as well as “fidelity,” noting that he first became acquainted with the former president in the early 1980s.