In his first British newspaper interview since his party’s landslide victory last week, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told The Times that the former French President, who heads a convention on the EU’s future, should “think before speaking” — particularly in the post September 11 world.

Mr Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AK) has strong Islamist roots, decried the idea that the EU was some sort of “Christian club” and suggested that M Giscard’s attitude would only hurt the already fragile dialogue between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

“I find his statements unfortunate at this time,” he said. “The EU really shouldn’t take any steps that would threaten inter-cultural dialogue and in this attitude I see something that could spoil this dialogue.”

Turkey will press for a date to start accession talks at next month’s EU summit. Mr Erdogan argued that the EU should hasten to admit Turkey because the presence of a Muslim country would be a perfect opportunity for dialogue between two religions and cultures.

“On the other hand, to develop this Christian club attitude can only hurt the excitement our people feel about the process of joining,” he said.

Wearing a smart suit and sporting a perfectly trimmed moustache, Mr Erdogan looked the antithesis of the rather menacing Islamist politician he has sometimes been portrayed as in the West.

He was not even a candidate in the general elections, having been barred from public office after his 1998 conviction for reading a poem comparing minarets to bayonets and the Muslim faithful to soldiers. Yet he acts and speaks like a Prime Minister-in-waiting and is treated as such. He has dined with European envoys and was congratulated on his victory by Western leaders, including Tony Blair.

He also has presence. His way with words, gravity of expression and attentive manner all give him the charismatic presence that persuaded 34.4 per cent of Turks to vote for the AK, handing it a huge parliamentary majority.

Asked whether he would be Prime Minister, Mr Erdogan laughed. Turkey’s President can appoint only an MP as Prime Minister — and he is not an MP. But clearly he believes that he deserves the job and aims to get it.

“The will of the people is clear,” he said. “The voting slips have my name on them and people gave us 34.4 per cent. From now, it’s all about political will.”

AK is seeking a formula for making Mr Erdogan Prime Minister in a way acceptable to the Opposition, whose votes are needed for any constitutional change.

The Opposition is unwilling to change the law to allow someone outside Parliament to lead the country, but is ready to lift the ban on Mr Erdogan becoming an MP. That would mean appointing an interim AK Prime Minister until he can brought into parliament with a by-election.

During the interview in the AK’s gleaming headquarters, Mr Erdogan talked repeatedly of freedoms, rights and liberties — the values that the EU is pressing Turkey to adopt — but he sees them at least partly as a means of alleviating the plight of Muslims who feel persecuted by Turkey’s strictly secularist rules. He said that Turkey wanted to join the EU because fulfilling its preconditions would extend to the Turkish people the guaranteed freedoms enjoyed by the West. Turkey would otherwise have trouble overcoming the present authoritarian state.

Although Mr Erdogan’s critics suggest that Islamist roots make him a threat to Turkey’s secularism, he insists that he wants to enforce secularism, not challenge it. Indeed, he suggests that it is past administrations that have twisted the legacy of Turkey’s secular founder, Kemal Ataturk.

He likewise suggested that the definition of secularism contained in Turkey’s 1982 Constitution — designed by the military — would be perfectly acceptable if properly implemented. “The definition of secularism in that Constitution would solve all our problems,” he said. “According to that, all beliefs are under the protection of the Government . . . Unfortunately this isn’t implemented as it should be.”

Mr Erdogan said that Britain’s acceptance of all manners of religious dress could be a positive influence: “The way these things are dealt with in Britain have elements that would suit us very well.”

He plans to visit Britain soon and hopes that Mr Blair will support Turkey’s EU bid. “We are going to show just how determined we are, with our public support — with our Government, our Opposition and our NGOs — just how absolutely determined we are to carry out the requirements for joining the European Union.”

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