Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on after the country's top court ruled against disbanding his ruling Justice and Develop-ment Party, in Ankara, Turkey, yesterday. - AP
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP):
Turkey's top court yesterday narrowly decided against disbanding the ruling party over accusations that it was plotting to impose Islamic rule, but cut off millions of dollars in state aid to a government locked in a power struggle with the secular elite.
The decision by the Constitutional Court averted political turmoil, at least in the short term, in a country that seeks entry into the European Union. But it exposed the vulnerabilities of Western-style democracy in Turkey, where the fate of an Islamic-oriented party with strong electoral backing lay in the hands of a panel of 11 judges.
The court delivered a strong though unspecified warning to the ruling Justice and Development Party in its decision to deprive it of half of its state funding. The party will lose about 22 million Turkish lira (US$15 million) this year.
Serious warning
"It is a serious warning," court chairman Hasim Kilic said. "I hope that this outcome will be assessed and that the necessary measures will be taken."
He said six of the 11 judges wanted to ban the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A total of seven votes were needed to ban it under court regulations.
The decision represented a reprieve for Erdogan and his allies in an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a secular system. A ban on the party would have triggered a sharp escalation in political turmoil in the NATO member, where a bomb attack last Sunday killed 17 people in Istanbul.
A ban would have severely damaged Turkey's image as a democracy because the ruling party won a landslide in elections last year; EU leaders have said the ruling party's viability should be decided in elections, not courtrooms.
"The great uncertainty that was blocking Turkey's path has been lifted with this decision," Erdogan said after the verdict. "Our party, which was never the focal point of anti-secular activity, will continue from now on to defend the republic's basic values."
