Turkey's Ruling Party Stands Ground in Court
SANA ABDALLAH
Published: July 03, 2008
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to ecstatic supporters in the run-up to July 2007 parliamentary elections in which his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the contest by a large margin that had pitted the government against opponents warning of a threat to secular traditions. Today he is fighting for his political life and the survival of the AKP against the very secularists he defeated last July. (Newscom)
AMMAN -- The Turkish ruling party was Thursday fighting for its legal survival in a very lengthy defense argument to the constitutional court, refuting charges that it poses a threat to the secular system and using the European Union card to pressure the highest court against attempts to ban the party.

In a closed-door session, top lawyers from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) began a recitation consisting of hundreds of pages in response to the chief prosecutor's charges that the party had an Islamic agenda that was gradually injecting Islamic laws into the 85-year-old secular regime.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, assisted by senior AKP parliament member Bekir Bozdak, presented the party's case to the 11-judge panel, which on Tuesday heard the arguments of the chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, on how the ruling party was allegedly breaching the constitution and why it should be banned.

Yalcinkaya had also urged the court to bar 71 party officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, from party politics for the next five years.

The judges are expected to issue a verdict in August, after debating a non-binding recommendation by a court-appointed rapporteur.

The legal battle is part of an ongoing struggle between the powerful secular elite and the moderate Islamist AKP, which won an overwhelming re-election victory with 47 percent of the vote in 2007 and enjoys massive grassroots support.

The court, dominated by secularists and has banned 24 parties since its establishment in 1963, was widely expected to rule against the party after it had overturned a parliament bill amending the constitution that would lift the ban on Islamic headscarves in universities.

Analysts have warned of seriously dangerous repercussions on political and economic stability should the court outlaw the party.

While the AKP has insisted that the court case against it was legally baseless and politically-motivated, it was nevertheless using all its legal weight through the court to refute, in great detail, the prosecution charges and establish that it was not violating the laws or constitution.

The party's legal advisers have said if the court proves to be judicially objective and not politically sympathetic to hardcore secular ideology, it cannot rule in favor of the prosecution because there was no solid evidence that would call for the dissolution of the AKP.

They argue the prosecution had sought to build a political case, not a legal one.

According to reports from Ankara, Cecik thus refuted every argument presented by the prosecution to prove the ruling party was committed to the secular, democratic system and that its members had renounced their Islamic roots in two Islamist parties that were shut down by the very same court on the same charges.

Analysts say while its chances for survival appeared to be in jeopardy, the AKP was optimistically predicting the judges would take new elements into consideration and throw out the prosecution's charges.

Cecik reportedly told the court to consider the fact that conditions in Turkey today had changed since 10 years ago when it had banned the former parties, namely since Ankara launched formal negotiations for membership in the European Union in 2004.

The AKP boasts responsibility for making great strides in becoming a prominent regional power hub, substantially improving its economy and democratic practice, as well as improving its chances to join the EU.

The European group has made it clear it was uneasy about the case for its political undertones, and warned it would undermine Turkey's membership bid.

Cecik said if Turkey wanted to become part of the EU, the court should rule in accordance with the European standards, which prohibit the banning of political parties unless it is established that they have been involved in terrorism or violence.

He reportedly indicated that if the judges decide to ban the party and its leaders from party politics, the AKP would take the case to the EU's Human Rights Court – a move that analysts say would further escalate the power clash in Turkey.

Secular forces – including those in the judiciary and military – have brushed aside European concerns, saying this was an internal matter.

Turkish commentators say the secular forces trying to topple the elected ruling party, and thus the government, parliament and democracy in the country, could care less about Western concerns or warnings, and doubted the West would actually be able to come to the rescue of the AKP.