ANKARA: A top Turkish state prosecutor said yesterday he would take legal action against officials or media who have criticised his decision to seek the closure of the ruling AK Party for suspected Islamist activities.
The move comes amid heightened political tension in Turkey, where a secular elite including judges and army generals is at loggerheads with the Islamist-rooted government over the role of Islam in the European Union candidate nation.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who denies any Islamist agenda, has called the attempt to close down his party an attack on democracy. Other senior AK Party officials have described the move as politically motivated and harmful to the rule of law.
Pro-government media say the indictment amounts to a “judicial coup”, using language that evokes memories of past army coups against Turkish governments. The European Union, which Ankara aims to join, has also criticised the lawsuit.
“For sure, necessary legal actions will be taken by the judicial authorities regarding written and verbal statements which go beyond (legitimate) criticism, which aim to affect the judicial process or threaten or insult public servants for doing their job regarding cases of shutting down political parties,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The statement did not say which specific statements it had in mind or whom the planned legal actions would target.
The chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals announced on March 14 he had asked the Constitutional Court to shut down the AK Party for anti-secular activities and to ban 71 party officials, including Erdogan, from politics for five years.
The judges confirmed this week that they would take up the case in a decision that has upset financial markets and raised the prospect of prolonged political uncertainty in Turkey.
The court case is expected to drag on for many months.
The indictment was sent to the AK Party yesterday, as required under judicial procedure. The party will have a month, possibly longer if requested, to prepare its written defence against the prosecutor’s accusations.
Turkey has banned a number of political parties in the past for alleged Islamist or Kurdish separatist activities.
Many commentators expect the AK Party to suffer the same fate, though the EU says this could badly damage Ankara’s membership chances.
AK has presided over five years of strong economic growth and political reforms and it has won the favour of investors for pursuing macroeconomic stability and privatisations. Erdogan says the lawsuit has put that legacy at risk. – Reuters