Turkey's Erdogan flaunts democratic credentials
By REUTERS
09/30/2012 16:26
ANKARA - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan trumpeted Turkey's
credentials as a rising democratic power on Sunday, saying his Islamist-rooted
ruling party had become an example to the Muslim world after a decade in
charge.
Addressing thousands of party members and regional leaders at a
congress of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Erdogan said the era of
military coups in the nation of 75 million people was over.
He vowed to
forge a more diverse constitution and turn a new page in relations with Turkey's
15 million Kurds, in a speech lasting almost two and half hours and meant to
chart the AK Party's agenda for the next decade.