Turkey’s powerful military gave a warning yesterday against threats to secularism in an apparent last-ditch attempt to influence the election of a new president by parliament today.

Yasar Buyukanit, the hawkish Chief of General Staff, released his statement on the military website less than 24 hours before parliament is expected to elect Abdullah Gul, the Foreign Minister, as President.

Despite his pro-Western stance, Mr Gul is regarded with suspicion by the secularist elite of Turkey because of his former membership of an Islamist party. There has has also been extensive criticism of his wife, who wears a Muslim headscarf, regarded by detractors as a symbol of backwardness.

“Ill-intentioned people . . . have been hatching furtive plans aimed at destroying the secular and democratic make-up of the Turkish Republic, and erasing civilised advances,” General Buyukanit said in a statement issued uncharacteristically early for Thursday’s Victory Day celebrations.

The military-led holiday marks Turkey’s victory in the War of Independence, in which the still-revered Mustafa Kemal Atatürk defeated invading Allies after the First World War, going on to create the secular Muslim Turkish Republic from the remains of the Ottoman Empire.

The statement, which also cites separatist Kurdish threats, did not name names. Mr Gul may also enjoy the support of MPs from a pro-Kurdish minority party in today’s vote.

The Government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister and former Islamist who pledges to espouse secularism, won a record 47 per cent mandate last month in early elections it was forced to call after veiled military threats and legal manoeuvrings stymied the presidential election in which Mr Gul was the only candidate.

A new poll by the Konda research company found that more than a month after the general elections Mr Gul and Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK) had increased its support even more, to 54 per cent.

“The Turkish Armed Forces, as up until now, will never sway from its determined stance and its duty of protecting and watching over the democratic, secular Turkish Republic,” General Buyukanit said in a statement on behalf of the military, which has ousted four governments since 1960.

Few expect the Army to intervene directly this time. But the statement could be regarded as an attempt to put pressure on MPs as they go in to vote today. It may also serve as a warning to Mr Gul that the military will be watching for the slightest false note in his presidency before bringing its considerable influence to bear.

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