Turkish court opts not to ban AKP

Published on Wednesday 30 July 2008 22:19

TURKEY'S highest court yesterday rejected an attempt to ban the governing AK Party on charges of trying to introduce Islamic rule, but did impose financial penalties.

The verdict ended months of political uncertainty, which has hit Turkey's financial markets on fears that the democratically-elected party would be shut down, halting economic and political reforms needed before it can join the European Union.

Hasim Kilic, chief justice and chairman of the Constitutional Court, said six of the 11 judges voted to close the AKP – one fewer than required. But the court did decide to cut some state aid to the party.

"The verdict on cutting treasury aid has been given because of members who decided the party was the hub of anti-secular activities, but not seriously enough (to close the party]," Mr Kilic, clearly emotional, told a news conference. "The decision was a warning, a serious warning," said Mr Kilic after three days of deliberations.

The AKP was re-elected with 47 per cent of the vote last year and denied charges of violating the secular constitution by supporting Islamist activities. It welcomed the ruling, with Faruk Celik, the labour minister, saying Turkish democracy had won.

Banning the party would have triggered a sharp escalation in political turmoil in the Nato member, where a bomb on Sunday killed 17 people in a mostly residential area of Istanbul.

The prosecutor had charged the Islamist-rooted AKP with engaging in anti-secular activities and wanted the party to be banned, with leading figures, including Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, and Abdullah Gul, the president, barred from politics for five years.

The court case was the latest battleground between the Muslims who run the government but embrace aspects of western political and economic systems, and the secular establishment that draws support from the military and judiciary.

The rift has evolved over the past century since the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, rejected Islam as a guiding force in society and politics, imposing a strictly secular system amid the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

Critics said the court case was a "judicial coup" against a democratically-elected party. "The majority of the court decided that the AKP had become a hub of anti-secular activities. I hope the AKP starts acting in line with the principles of secularism after this verdict," said Mustafa Ozyurek, of the main opposition Republican People's Party.

The EU has also criticised the case, saying the charges raised by the prosecutor should be debated in parliament and decided through the ballot box, not in the courtroom.

"I feel very relieved, said Joost Lagendijk, chairman of the Turkey-EU delegation in the European Parliament. "Closing down AKP on the basis of this indictment clearly goes against European rules."

The conflict between the government and secular opponents escalated last year during Mr Gul's candidacy for the presidency, and the military delivered a warning that recalled past coups by the armed forces.

More than 20 political parties have been banned for Islamist or Kurdish separatist activities over the years, including the predecessor of the AKP in 2001, but none has been as popular as this governing party.