TURKEY: Turkish court rules against closing AK Party

Record ID: 217466

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish court rules against closing AK Party
  • Date: 31st July 2008
  • Summary: (BN12) ANKARA, TURKEY (JULY 30, 2008) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF TURKISH CONSTITUTIONAL COURTHOUSE
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9I20HJDIXRLYQ2894OGXQZEER
  • Story Text: Turkey's highest court on Wednesday rejected an attempt to close the governing AK Party on charges of trying to introduce Islamic rule but imposed financial penalties on it, the court's chief judge said.
    The verdict ended months of political uncertainty which has hit Turkey's financial markets on fears that the democratically elected party would be closed down, halting economic and political reforms needed for Turkey to join the European Union.
    Constitutional Court Chairman Hasim Kilic, the chief justice, said six of the 11 judges voted to close the AK Party -- one fewer than the number required. But the court did decide to cut some state aid to the party, which, like other parties in parliament, receives funds from the treasury.
    "It is decided not to ban the party. The court decided to impose partial financial penalties. The party will not be banned but everybody should evaluate the decision very carefully. The decision should be accepted as a very strong warning for AKP. Six court members voted 'yes', four people voted for 'imposing financial penalties' and one person voted for rejection of the case," Kilic told a news conference.
    The AK Party was re-elected with 47 percent of the vote last year and denied charges of violating the secular constitution by supporting Islamist activities.
    The AK Party welcomed the ruling, with its labour minister Faruk Celik saying Turkish democracy had won.
    The prosecutor had charged the Islamist-rooted AK Party with engaging in anti-secular activities and wanted the party to be banned and leading figures, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, barred from politics for five years.
    Turkey's government has long been at odds with the secularist establishment, including the judiciary and the military, over the role of religion in the officially secular but predominantly Muslim country. Critics said the court case was a "judicial coup" against a democratically elected party.
    The European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, has also criticised the case, saying the kind of charges raised by the prosecutor should be debated in parliament and decided through the ballot box, not in the courtroom.
    If the party had been closed down and leading members banned from politics, as called for by the prosecutor, Turkey would probably have had an early parliamentary election.
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