ANKARA Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Tuesday refused to approve a government decree which would fire hundreds of civil servants for alleged links to armed Islamic groups.
President Sezer, a former chief judge and advocate of increased democracy, said the dismissal of civil servants should be backed by law instead of a decree.
"The president has returned the decree with the belief that the principle of the state of law obliges that the arrangements sought by the decree should be made by law," Sezer's office said in a statement on its Website.
The decree forms part of a three-year military-led crackdown on Islamic activism.
Secularist Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said last week that efforts to fight Islamic activism were weakened by light punishments allowing civil servants who are suspected of involvement in Islamist attacks to remain on the state payroll.
The government may opt to push the decree into force against the president's will, in which case Sezer has the option of applying to the constitutional court for review of the decree.
In his statement, Sezer reaffirmed his commitment to defending the constitutional principle of secularism which is staunchly protected by the powerful army.
Turkey is an overwhelmingly Muslim but officially secularist country and the influential generals see themselves as the self-appointed guardians of the system.
The military toppled the country's first Islamist-led government three years ago. A subsequent court ban on the Islam-based Welfare Party and its leadership followed, along with a stream of court cases against leading Islamic figures.
The leader of the main opposition Islamist party had said he would appeal to the constitutional court against the decree.
(Reuter)