Turkey's New Military Chief Is Ardent Secularist

ANKARA [MENL] -- Turkey's new military chief has been described as an
ardent, albeit quiet, secularist as well as a proponent of strategic
relations with the United States.
Gen. Ilker Basbug, scheduled to become Turkey's new chief of staff on
Aug. 30, takes over for the more outspoken Gen. Yasar Buyukanit. But
analysts said Basbug would maintain the military's demand that Turkey remain
a secular state.