The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government can be said to have radically changed the political mindset and attitude in Turkey. Some Kemalist intellectuals voted for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kurdish presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş during the recently-held election, an indicator of that radical change. But more importantly, Abdullah Gül, whose presidency was fiercely resisted seven years ago, was suggested as an alternative name with the support of different groups including nationalists, Gülenists, leftists and liberals.Backed by such a coalition, Gül is also in a quite prestigious position among AK Party supporters. All in all, he is the second man of the AK Party and the first president of Turkey belonging to the party. Also, some surveys revealed that the rate of those wishing to see Gül as the president again was about 70 percent. If whom they wanted to see as the prime minister had been questioned, the results would not have been different for Gül.So, we have an interesting question: why could Gül, who was appreciated and supported, not be assigned one of the seats he aimed at? The answer actually lies in the question itself. Having been nominated by such a wide consensus actually shows Gül's political function, to prevent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidency, acting as a means to "save" the party from Erdoğan. It can be claimed that Gül does not have such a motivation. It can also be underlined that receiving support from different social segments has a unifying and integrating role in democracies. From that perspective, one could argue that Gül is the ideal president in terms of ending polarizations and providing social peace in Turkey. In addition to that, the West prefers Gül, so this choice would also provide a considerable betterment in Turkey's foreign affairs. In brief, Gül sounds like a very rational choice.However, Turkey is not in search of balance – it is in a period of reformation by overcoming the past as soon as possible. And this does not imply a president or prime minister who slows down the reformation process for the sake of reconciliation. This change requires the restructuring of bureaucracy and clearing the personnel who manipulated judicial mechanisms for political motivations. It is debatable whether Gül would display such a will. Maybe the most critical factor is Gül's attitude over the last two years. Gül did not say a word when even the chronic opponents of the AK Party nominated him as a prospective presidential candidate. He did not take offence at being the subject of an anti-AK Party political manipulation. He hoped to have a chance by remaining silent. However, this silence was perceived as a sort of opportunism and caused a loss of his prestige within the party. When the issues of the reconciliation process, new constitution, and struggle against the Gülen Movement's links to bureaucracy are considered, Gül has gradually turned into an unreliable politician.Those obsessed with throwing Erdoğan out completely cut Gül's chance with their increasing support since they could not see his loss of prestige from the the party. The ones who made up many unthinkable plots and wrote articles full of insults in 2007 in order to prevent Gül's presidency suddenly became admirers of him, turning him into an "anti-Erdoğan" figure. As a member of the AK Party, Gül was expected to declare that he would not be subjected to such manipulative acts. But he seemed to care about his own possible career more than the party, which undermined his possible career. In a period of radical transformation, why choose a man who says he is the "opposite" of Erdoğan as the leading actor of this transformation?