A bid to offer private schooling to gifted children in Turkey has put the staunchly secular president on a collision course with the government after he said the new law might play into the hands of Islamists.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Wednesday vetoed a law proposed by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) that would have allowed some 10,000 deserving pupils from poorer families the chance to continue their studies.

Sezer explained his veto in a statement saying that state-sponsored pupils would "inevitably" be sent to Islamic-controlled schools – anathema in Turkey with its staunchly secular constitution.

One of the issues that led to the veto was that the government did not specify where the state-sponsored pupils would be taught.

After rising two years ago from the ashes of banned Islamic parties, the AKP is keen to deny that it harbours a secret Islamist agenda, preferring to describe itself as conservative.

Turkey's powerful army has been keeping a close eye on the AKP's every move since the party won an overwhelming parliamentary majority in last November's general elections, especially on issues that might affect the state's secular system.

The headscarf, seen here as a symbol of political Islam, remains banned by law in all schools and universities.

Already in 1997, army disquiet led to the removal of the country's first Islamic prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, a move described in Turkey as a "post-modern coup".

While eight years of primary education are compulsory in Turkey, many poorer children are then forced to leave school and work to help their families make ends meet.

High school education is free in state schools, but standards are sometimes poor and pupils must buy their own uniforms and books. Many better-off families prefer to send their children to private, fee-paying schools, many of which are run by Islamic foundations.

Reforms over the last 10 years have seen the state gradually loosen its tight grip on education, allowing private schools to flourish – including those funded by Islamic foundations.

One particular foundation controls a number of private schools and universities, and is led by Fethullah Gulen, a 65-year-old former preacher.

He has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999 when he was accused of criticizing Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkey's secular republic.

Gulen's "Nurcu" (Light) Islamic foundation, which reportedly has funds of 25 billion dollars (22 billion euros), has set up more than 300 schools and six universities in Turkey itself as well as in Turkic former Soviet republics, in the far-east and in the Balkans.

The secular establishment along with the army have accused Gulen's foundation of breacking with the state's secular principles and of proselytising among the 400,000 pupils attending its schools.

The liberal press on Thursday congratulated the president on his veto and called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former Islamist, to exercise greater "sensitivity" in matters touching on secular education and greater clarity when putting forward reforms.

"Was the secrecy surrounding the preparation of the law meant to allow state-financing of schools known for their Islamist affiliations?" asked an editorialist in the Radikal newspaper.

But the Islamic newspaper Yeni Safak described the presidential veto as a "blow against poor students" and several ministers immediately suggested the bill would be sent back, unamended, to the president who will have no choice but to sign it into law or ask the constitutional court to rule on its validity.AFP