Turkey’s bid to join the EU threatened by latest court action

Turkey’s top court decided yesterday to put the Islamist-rooted ruling party on trial for alleged anti-secular activity, in a case that could threaten national stability and Ankara’s bid to join the European Union.

The Constitutional Court agreed unanimously to accept the indictment against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) filed by the country’s top prosecutor.

The ruling formally launches the case against the AKP, which could result in the party being banned.

A decision on whether President Abdullah Gul, an AKP member until he was elected head of state in August, should be included in the trial was also taken.

The chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals accused the AKP of undermining Turkey’s secular order as part of a plan to introduce an Islamist system.

The prosecutor also asked the Constitutional Court to ban party officials, including Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from politics for five years.

The AKP now has one month to present its initial defence to the Court, which has banned more than 20 parties since the 1960s.

The AKP, founded in 2002 as a moderate offshoot of a banned Islamist movement, has disavowed its religious roots, pledged commitment to the secular system and embraced Turkey’s EU membership bid.

The prosecutor, however, argued that moves such as the abolition of a bar on the Islamic head scarf in universities last month and an alcohol ban in restaurants, indicate the party’s aim to establish a state based on Sharia, or Islamic law.

“All actions and rhetoric of the party are aimed at establishing an Islamist society in which Islamic rules and values have the priority ... and then carrying out legal arrangements to move towards Sharia,” the indictment said.

The AKP slammed the prosecutor’s move as a blow to democracy and a fresh attempt by Turkey’s hard line secularists to curb the party after its re-election in July to a second five-year term with almost 47% of the vote, a rare feat in Turkish politics.

The AKP announced last week that it is working on a constitutional amendment making it more difficult to ban political parties, drawing criticism that it is seeking to circumvent the system’s safety mechanisms.

The EU has urged the Constitutional Court to take Turkey’s interests into consideration when making its decision, warning that the case could hit Ankara’s drive to join the bloc.

“I hope the judges will consider Turkey’s long-term interests respecting all democratic principles of the EU,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn commented.