Turkey

Ruling party escapes ban

Article published on the 2008-07-30 Latest update 2008-07-31 11:01 TU

Police patrol in front of Ankara's Constitutional Court
(Photo: Reuters)

Turkey's ruling AKP party narrowly escaped a ban on Wednesday, instead receiving financial sanctions from the Constitutional Court for undermining secularism. The court ruled that the party should have half of its treasury funding for this year cut.

Six of the eleven judges voted in favour of shutting down the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Seven votes were required to impose a ban.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party was accused of attempting to replace Turkey's secular constitution with Sharia, or Koranic law.

Chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya had also called for the court to bar President Abdullah Gul, Erdogan and 69 other AKP officials from party politics for five years.

Had a ruling to shut down the country's most popular party been upheld, Turkey's EU accession hopes would have been dashed and political chaos would have ensued.

A power struggle has been ongoing between the AKP and secular powers in the country, including the military, the judiciary and academia, which has been accelerating since the party nominated Gul for the presidency in April 2007.

The AKP claimed that the court case was a coup attempt, but the prosecutor argued that the secular Turkish Republic was in danger.

The court's argument was based in great part on a constitutional amendment supported by the AKP which would have overturned a ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf in universities.

The Constitutional Court had scrapped the amendment in June on the grounds that it violated secular principles. Other accusations included attempts to restrict or ban the sale of alcohol and encouraging religious education.

More than 20 political parties have been banned in Turkey since 1960.