There will be no change in Turkish-Israeli ties, a senior member of Turkey's pro-Islamic AKP party, which swept into power this week, told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday, while harshly criticizing the policies of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

But when asked about the current government crisis in Jerusalem and his party's opinion of Sharon, Mercan said Sharon is "one of the major sources of terrorism in the Middle East."

"Having Islamic roots doesn't mean that AKP is an Islamic party," Mercan said. "AKP is not an Islamic party. We have several times denounced religious-based parties and will continue to do so. We don't think they are good for the country, and we wholeheartedly believe in secularism and the Turkish constitution. We have no intention of changing this."

Mercan was continuing the party leadership's attempts to calm down a nervous world watching carefully to see whether AKP built on the ashes of a fundamentalist Islamic party will lead secular, Western Turkey in an Islamic direction.
While saying Sharon is responsible for creating an "atmosphere of terror" and for "not honoring the peace process," Mercan did not let the Palestinians off the hook.