Turkey's president warns of Islamist threat

Turkey's staunchly pro-secular president said Friday that the threat Islamic fundamentalism poses to the country's secular establishment has reached its highest level - a warning directed at the Islamic-rooted prime minister, who may stand to replace him in May. "For the first time, the pillars of the secular republic are being openly questioned," private NTV television quoted President Ahmet Necdet Sezer as saying during a speech at the War Academies in Istanbul.