Defending himself against an impending court case, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said May 20, "The post of president is a highest office. My only concern is over the damaging of this highest office. I have no fear to be judged if it is necessary as a result of legal procedure." Gul was charged May 18 by the high criminal court in Ankara's Sincan district in an old court case that accused the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leadership of embezzling millions of dollars in state funds when the party's predecessor was shut down by the Constitutional Court in 1997. Once Gul was elected president in 2007, Ankara's general prosecutor judged that Gul could not be tried in the case because he has immunity as president. The ruling was based on a provision in the Turkish Constitution that stipulates presidents cannot be tried for anything except treason. Osman Kacmaz, head of the Sincan 1st High Criminal Court in Ankara, however, is challenging the prosecutor's ruling, claiming that the president's immunity is irrelevant and that if Turkish law is broken, no one should be exempt from standing trial. The Ankara court ruling is part and parcel of Turkey's interminable identity crisis, which pits Islamism against the secularist ideals that formed the state under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The Islamist-rooted AKP is all too familiar with its struggle against the secularist-dominated judiciary. The Constitutional Court banned three AKP predecessors — Milli Selamet Partisi (in 1980), Refah Partisi (in 1998) and Fazilet Partisi (in 2001) — for violating the state's secularist principals. But each time the court came down on the AKP, the party came back stronger. When the court tried to dissolve the party for amending the constitution to lift a ban on students wearing the Islamic headscarf, the AKP narrowly escaped the noose when the 6-5 ruling kept the party intact. The court also fined the party heavily as a warning shot to steer clear of the secular redline, forcing the AKP to back off on the headscarf issue for the time being. The AKP realized long ago that its quest to consolidate political power would require taking on the judiciary. Already the AKP has made considerable progress in placing checks on its political opponents through media crackdowns and buyouts, and through a number of appointments it has made to Turkey's lower judicial courts. The military and the secularist-dominated high courts, however, remain the most powerful check on the AKP's rise. To counter its opponents, the AKP has relied on an ongoing probe into Ergenekon, a murky secularist nationalist movement that allegedly seeks to bring down the AKP. Alleged Ergenekon coup-related arrests are announced on a regular basis to corner AKP political opponents, who range from journalists to judges to military generals. It is therefore very unlikely a coincidence that the wife of Osman Paksut –- the Constitutional Court vice president who voted to ban the AKP in the 2008 vote — is now being charged with collaborating with Ergenekon coup plotters. If the AKP were to oust Paksut, the president would be able to appoint an AKP-friendly judge to the highest court to help shield the party from its critics in the secular establishment. Suspicious of Gul's motives, the secularists are now coming after the president with the old embezzlement court case. The secular establishment not only is concerned with Gul's rights as president to appoint Supreme Court judges, but also views Gul as having a close relationship with the Turkish-based Islamist movement led by Fethullah Gulen. The Gulen movement is staunchly opposed to the military's secularist agenda and envisions Turkey as a nation being born again as a purely Islamic power. The Gulen movement and the AKP share a broad vision for a more Islamist-rooted Turkey, and Gulen's following relies on the AKP as the main political vehicle for its agenda. However, the Islamist movement in Turkey cannot be viewed as a monolithic unit, as a great deal of friction exists between the AKP and the Gulen movement. The AKP is not simply made up of Islamist-leaning politicians; there are many conservative, center-right, rightist and pro-business members that play an influential role in the party. More importantly, the AKP has a balance to maintain with the country's historically powerful military establishment. The military sees itself as the vanguard of Kemalist secularism and has launched a number of coups in the past to protect the foundation of the Turkish state. The AKP is busy consolidating power and needs to tread carefully in pursuing its agenda. This becomes especially important as Turkey extends its influence far beyond the Anatolian Peninsula into its traditional Ottoman-era spheres of influence in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Europe, South Asia and Central Asia. Turkey's overseas expansion has the Turkish General Staff extremely nervous. The Turkish military would like to see Turkey's profile raised, though not at the expense of its secularist foundation. This is a concern that has come to light more recently as the AKP, backed by Washington, has promoted an Islamic image to broaden its appeal in the Muslim world. In addition, the Turkish military is greatly concerned about Islamist penetration in the state's security organs. Speaking at the War Academy in Istanbul, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug expressed these concerns when he called on the civilian leadership in the AKP to take into consideration "the concerns and recommendations of the military" to promote a healthier civil-military relationship. Basbug even called out the Gulen movement by claiming that "religious-based communities consider themselves as political actors and think they can strengthen their positions. This is wrong. These sorts of communities are targeting the military to reach their goals." The AKP is in the middle of a broader struggle between the Gulen movement and the military. The AKP understands that it must work with the military to fulfill its role as a resurgent regional power. Though Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has kept his distance from the Gulen movement, Gul's connections to the group are throwing the AKP back into the hot seat. Given the disagreements within the Supreme Court over the fresh charges against Gul, it is unlikely that the president runs much of a risk of being ousted. That said, this court case is yet another example of how the secularists expect the AKP to take a more definitive line on the separation of mosque and state before it gets caught up in its foreign policy agenda.