Turkey's ruling party submits its defense to Constitutional Court

16/06/2008

ANKARA, Turkey -- The ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) potential banning will deepen divisions in Turkey and worsen ties with the EU, according to a study sponsored by the US Pentagon and published by Turkish media Monday (June 16th). Shutting down the AKP, however, is unlikely to eliminate it as a political force because "if it is closed, the party is likely to simply re-emerge under another name", the report said. The Pentagon concluded that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is oriented towards Europe and the party's electoral success "does not translate into popular support for an Islamist agenda". The AKP will submit its defence to the Constitutional Court on Monday in the case to shut it down for allegedly undermining secularism in Turkey. (Zaman - 16/06/08; Hurriyet, Cihan - 15/06/08)