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Adviser tells Turkish court not to close down Islamic-rooted ruling party |
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Written by International Herald Tribune
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Thursday, 17 July 2008 02:58 |
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An adviser to Turkey's Constitutional Court recommended on Wednesday that the court not shut down the Islamic-rooted ruling party, a senior court official said.
Advisor Osman Can told the court in a nonbinding report that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party should not be disbanded because it was only seeking to expand freedoms when it lifted a ban on Islamic headscarves, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Can also recommended that the court should drop charges of undermining secularism against the party, the official said.
The court, which has closed down several pro-Islamic parties in the past on similar grounds, has a tendency to weigh precedent more heavily than the recommendations of its advisers.
Can recommended to the top court earlier this year that it allow the lifting of the ban on headscarves but the court overwhelmingly decided to put the ban in place, inflicting a blow to the ruling Islamic-rooted government.
Hasim Kilic, president of the top court, confirmed that Can's recommendations had been relayed to members of the 11-judge panel.
A verdict on the case is expected within a month.
Can also said in his recommendations that speeches by the party members, deemed anti-secular by the country's top prosecutor, should be considered to be within the limits of free speech.
The Justice and Development Party denies charges of violating secular principles of the republic.
The consequences for Turkey's EU bid and for stability in this strategically located country could be grave if the party is closed down.
Foreign investors could be unsettled and political gridlock would halt crucial reforms. Perhaps most importantly, such a radical measure would trigger questions in the EU about whether Turkey is the mature democracy it makes itself out to be.
Supporters of the ban, which could not be appealed, say the secular values canonized by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk must be defended at all costs.
The court has shut down political parties in the past, but never a ruling party and none as popular as that of Erdogan.
The country's top prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, claims that the party known by its Turkish acronym AKP is engaged in a systematic effort to impose Islam on Turkey.
The indictment cites efforts to lift a ban on wearing Islamic head scarves in universities and other measures aimed at expanding the rights of devout Muslims in the educational system.
The adviser, Can, pointed out that it was Parliament which voted to lift the ban on headscarves on campus and that a previous decision by the top court that annulled the lifting of the ban eliminated that threat, the court official said.
Can said the attempt to lift the ban on head scarves was a peaceful move aimed at expanding freedoms, the official said.
If the court rules for the prosecution, several party members, including Erdogan, could lose their seats and be barred from joining a political party for five years, although they would still be eligible to run for Parliament as independents.
Under such a scenario, the party would regroup under a different name and the barred legislators would run and likely be elected as independents who would then informally align themselves with the newly established party.
The court could order the seizure of the party's assets as a lesser punishment than disbanding the party. But Can also objected to such a measure, the official said.
Any attempt to relax the state's uncompromisingly secular stance in this 99 percent Muslim country is met with strident protests from the urban elite as well as the army which has staged three coups after civil strife or political turmoil.
The government has been credited with maintaining the political and financial stability seen as critical to bringing about the reforms needed to revive the nation's EU bid, including curbing the military's say in politics and expanding free speech.
As a NATO member and U.S. ally, Turkey 's stability is of vital strategic importance, particularly because it neighbors Iraq and Iran and is seen as the West's gateway to the Middle East. |