Turkey's first president with an Islamist past, Abdullah Gul, is to examine his prime minister's new cabinet on his first day in office today. Gul was elected president in an August 28 parliamentary vote.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to pursue reforms and turn Turkey into a modern democracy after his ruling Justice and Development (AK) party won early parliamentary elections on July 22.

Turkish voters head to the polls on July 22 to elect a new parliament, in what some commentators are calling a "watershed" moment for the nation of 70 million. In many ways, this election will be the ultimate test of Turkey's maturity as a modern democracy.

Turkish parliament on Thursday will hold a final vote on a key constitutional amendment to let the public - rather than legislators - elect the president. The Islamic-rooted government pushed the amendment after opposition lawmakers boycotted the process to elect a new president from the ruling party over fears that, if elected, he might help the government to increase the influence of religion on politics and daily life in this secular country.

A massive demonstration in Istanbul in support of secularism has highlighted the strong emotions surrounding the parliamentary election of Turkey's next president. Up to 1 million people rallied in Istanbul on April 29.

A European Union official has warned Turkey's military to stay out of politics after it expressed concern about the election of a new president. Olli Rehn, the EU expansion affairs commissioner said Saturday that the election was a "test case" for the Turkish military's respect for democracy.