Turkey's foreign minister Abdullah Gul in an interview with VOA denied opposition charges that his Justice and Development Party is seeking a greater role for Islam in the government. He was speaking just days after he withdrew his candidacy to become Turkey's new president because of a legal challenge mounted by his pro-secular opponents.

A longtime opposition leader of Turkey have been trying to defeat Islam's encroach into Turkish politics for more than a decade. Deniz Baykal, 68, is president of Turkey's oldest political party, the Republican People's Party. It was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who as Turkey's first president made secularism one of this Muslim nation's most sacred principles.

Turkey's Constitutional Court is set to rule on whether to cancel the first round of a presidential election that sparked a political crisis. The head of the court, Tulay Tugcu, told reporters the court was planning to announce its verdict later today.