Turks constitutioneel hof buigt zich over mogelijkheid verbod regeringspartij (en)
Turkey's constitutional court is expected to decide whether to accept a case aimed at shutting down the ruling centre-right Justice and Development Party (AK Party), accused by prosecutors of harbouring a hidden agenda to build an Islamist state.
Ahead of the deliberation scheduled for Monday (31 March), EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn i has once again urged the court to "consider Turkey's long-term interests ... to be an important European democracy respecting all democratic principles of the EU i."
Speaking during a weekend meeting of EU foreign ministers in Slovenia, Mr Rehn said that efforts to ban the centre-right AK Party has revealed a "system error" in the Turkish constitutional framework that "should be debated in parliament and decided through ballot boxes, not in courtrooms".
At the same time, the commissioner warned that the decision could have consequences for Turkey's bid to join the 27-nation bloc.
"The EU accession negotiation framework says that in case of a serious breach of democratic principles in Turkey, the commission is obliged to look at what ramifications this could have for negotiations," he said.
So far, Turkey has succeeded in opening six out of 35 chapters within EU entry talks, while eight chapters remain frozen due to disputes relating to the division of Cyprus, an EU member state.
Efforts to ban the ruling party - with the country already paying price of instability in financial markets - were triggered by the country's top prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, earlier this month (14 March).
Mr Yalcinkaya filed a suit with the courts to have the party outlawed and the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and 70 other AK Party members banned from politics for five years.
He based his accusations on the government's recent manoeuvres to lift a ban on the wearing of headscarves in universities as well as to prohibit alcohol in restaurants run by AK Party municipalities.
The judiciary, along with the army and academics, is seen as a staunch defender of Turkey's secularism laid down by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, described the legal action against his party as an attack on democracy, saying: "We will continue our struggle within democracy."
"We won 47 percent of the vote ... Everyone must respect the nation's will," he added on Sunday (30 March), according to Reuters.
Although having its roots in political islam, the AKP now portrays itself as a moderate, conservative, pro-Western party that advocates a liberal market economy and Turkey's membership in the European Union.