Judge elected Turkish president

President Demirel (left) will hand over to Ahmet Necdet Sezer

The Turkish Parliament has elected a reformist judge, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, as the country's president.

He will replace Suleyman Demirel, whose seven-year term of office expires on 16 May.

Mr Sezer will be the first Turkish president who has been neither an active politician nor a senior military officer.

In his first comments to the press after his election, Mr Sezer called for greater democracy.

Counting the votes for Sezer

Reforms

"In society and in politics, democracy is not sufficiently established. A tradition of democracy has not been established," he said.

Mr Sezer also pledged to make no concessions on Turkey's constitutional principles of secularism and territorial integrity - codewords for yielding ground to political Islam and Kurdish separatism.

Analysts say that his election will be broadly welcomed at home and abroad, particularly by Turkey's western allies.

A tradition of democracy has not been established

President-elect Sezer

They say it raises hopes he will be able to help Turkey adopt the reforms which are crucial to realising its goal of European Union membership.

Consensus

Mr Sezer, who is currently chairman of Turkey's constitutional court, has been in the legal profession all his working life.

He did not seek the job of president.

Prime Minister Ecevit needed a smooth transition

But he was nominated as a consensus candidate by all five party leaders in parliament after they failed to agree on a politician despite lengthy negotiations.

After failing to secure the two-thirds majority necessary to win during the first two rounds, Mr Sezer needed only a simple majority in the third round - and secured it by winning 330 of the 550 votes.

Analaysts say his election should ensure a smooth transition in the presidency, to the relief of the prime minister, Bulent Ecevit.

Moral influence

A protracted political battle could have threatened the stability of Turkey's current coalition government and its ambitious programme of economic reform.

The Turkish president has little formal power, but can wield considerable influence behind the scenes and play an important part in crises.

The last two presidents have played leading roles in foreign policy, a field in which Mr Sezer has no experience.

On the domestic front, however, Mr Sezer has a reputation as a powerful advocate of legal and constitutional reform.

Sezer: Wants greater freedom of expression

Mr Sezer has said in the past that Turkey must grant its citizens greater freedom of expression and better protection from the abuse of human rights.

Ocalan

Specifically, Mr Sezer has called for changes in Turkey's harsh anti-terrorism laws, which have led hundreds of people to be imprisoned for speeches or newspaper articles deemed to threaten national security.

One decision he may have to face concerns the imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

If parliament endorses the death sentence on Mr Ocalan, Mr Sezer would have to decide whether to give it final approval.