Beşiktaş fans congratulates the new president, who is also a Beşiktaş fan:)

SABRINA TAVERNISE and SEBNEM ARSU in The Traps in Turkey’s Power Shift says:

Five issues that will play out in coming weeks and months could begin to provide an answer:
THE EUROPEAN UNION: Mr. Gul was a leading actor in Turkey’s bid to join the E.U., and in his first speech as president, he reiterated his intent to continue to pursue it. Progress toward membership might inhibit any impulse for the army to interfere in government, since democracy is a prerequisite for union membership. But Turkey’s bid faces strong opposition from some countries like France, whose newly elected president, Nicolas Sarkozy, wants new talks in which Turkey would be considered for “special status” as well as full membership.

[the others being- THE CONSTITUTION, APPOINTMENTS, ARTICLE 301, KURDISH SEPARATISM]

A round up here:

Gül to make appointments to various critical posts

Source: Al-Jarida, Kuwait, August 31, 2007

NYT Editorial Democracy in Turkey Abdullah Gul and his party have pledged to maintain a secular government, and their five-year record in power so far suggests that they will keep their word.

Turkey's democratic choice - International Herald Tribune

The election of Abdullah Gul, an observant Muslim, to the Turkish presidency is a victory for democracy. The military, which has a habit of defending Turkish secularism at the expense of Turkish democracy, tried to block his candidacy last spring. Rather than bow to the generals, the government took the issue to the people, who delivered Gul's party a mandate in July's parliamentary elections, smoothing the way for lawmakers to overwhelmingly approve Gul for the presidency."

DOSSIER: Abdullah Gül elected Turkish president | 29/08/2007

Abdullah Gül was elected on August 28 as Turkey's president by the Turkish parliament. His election came in the third round of a second attempt at electing a president. The conservative, Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) has thus secured its influence in parliament and the president's office, and won the power struggle with the country's Kemalist military. Will a more stable Turkey now draw closer to the EU?

Crisis mongering adds nothing to Turkey

There is a mood of deep pessimism among what has come to be known loosely as Turkey's "secularists." The advent of the "Abdullah Gül era" is being taken bitterly as a sign of a major defeat by those in this camp, be they civilian or military.All eyes at home and abroad are now on the Turkish Armed Forces to see what it will do. The attitude of the military thus far - and in clear defiance of democratic propriety – shows some trouble ahead. Boycotting and cold-shouldering President Gül – who also happens to be the commander in chief – is already underway. Put bluntly the military is going out of its way, to the extent that it can without....

Guardian Turkey's about turnMaureen Freely: The election of Abdullah Gül is proof that the Turkish military's old ways of doing business are no longer reliable or effective.

Fears for the future Ilana Bet-El Turkey is changing from a secular state to a new hybrid combining modernity and tradition: but secularists won't give up their freedoms easily.
Secular Turks will settle for nothing less than a truly liberal society
Response: We cannot compromise our ideals just so Turkey can be a role model in the Middle East, says Mehmet Karli.

Wider Effects Of Turkey's New Leadership

Business world hails its new leaders

A New Kind of Secularism
By Michael van der Galiën

Barroso hails Gul's election, EU papers are split - New Europe News: #1 The European News Source

What will the military do? by MÜMTAZ'ER TÜRKÖNE

This is a question journalists are eagerly seeking an answer to. Tension was expected between the military and the government following Abdullah Gül's coming to the presidential office.
Turks Don't Foresee Islamist Government: Angus Reid Global Monitor

Al Awsat The Valuable Turkish Lesson : Hussein Shobokshi

PBS Newshour Soner Çağaptay and Bülent Alirıza on Gul’s Election text audio

Profile: Abdullah Gul

Leaders from East to West queue up to congratulate Gül

A President of The People, for The People, by The People

Taking Ataturk's Chair By SOLI OZEL

Ha’aretz - Jerusalem Post Turkey leads toward democracy Turkish elections bring Arab silence [ SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM & MENSUR AKGUN In the medium and the longer term, the AKP has managed not only to become solidly mainstream in Turkish politics but also, through its own example, it paved the way for other Muslim Democrats, in a manner akin to Christian Democrats in the West.

Let Turkey Be Times of India