Disagreement between Erdogan and Gull will get deeper ahead of presidential elections

In a recent statement Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would not run for parliament. But at the same time he did not rule out his engagement into politics, adding that one does not necessarily have to lead a political party for the purpose.

But analysts think Mr Erdogan is preparing to run for president as Mr Abdullah Gul's term in office is drawing to an end in 2012.

Commenting on Erdogan's statement to Kanal8 Vice-President of the Nationalistic Movement Oktai Vural compared him to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying that both are preparing to run for president but they will hardly succeed in their efforts.

"Anyway, Erdogan will not be able to easily take the president's seat. The point is that not all his party members share agree with his programs, and therefore the closer the presidential elections are the deeper the disagreements between him and Gul will be," said he.

Turkey is also due to vote on constitutional changes on September 12. Opposition is critical of the Government's plans and is against of that reform package.