Trial could ban Turkey's top politicians, party

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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Turkey's highest court decided yesterday to start a potentially crisis-provoking trial that could ban the country's top officials and their party from politicson grounds of anti-secularism.

Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, who requested the trial, accused the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) of "anti-secular activities" violating the constitution. President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are both AKP members.

The 11-member Constitutional Court voted unanimously in favor of the unusual legal procedure likely to take months and damage Turkey's international prestige.

At stake are Turkey's application to join the European Union, the future of its successful economic recovery and its role as an Islamic nation with Western aspirations. The business community fears a possible flight of foreign capital.

The 162-page list of accusations attempts to prove the government has an Islamic agenda. Mr. Gul and Mr. Erdogan have repeatedly insisted on their commitment to secular values, though both were previously involved in a now-banned Islamic party.

Some Western diplomats in Ankara, Turkey, think the proposed trial, inspired by hard-core secularists, is backed by a number of influential generals. The Turkish army considers itself to be the ultimate guardian of the secular system introduced in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk known as Kemalism.

The Athens conservative daily Kathimerini commented: "The Turkish military establishment is trying to regain lost ground. ... To a Westerner, the prosecutor's proposal seems preposterous but European Union candidate Turkey has a history of military and judicial coups."

In addition to the possible impact on Turkey's international prestige and its domestic political agenda, the trial is likely to have religious ramifications in a country divided by the growing influence of Islam and its symbolism.

Somewhat incongruously, Turkey's latest crisis stems from a recent lifting of a ban on the wearing of head scarves by female university students.

Secularists contend the head scarf has a political Islamic message and its acceptance could help introduce other forms of religious influence. The wives of Mr. Gul and of Mr. Erdogan recently started wearing head scarves.

Commenting on the implications of the trial, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said, "If things go farther, relations with the EU will deteriorate badly and threaten suspension of the negotiating process."

As it is, talks on Turkey's EU candidacy have been frozen on eight out of 35 "policy areas," including its refusal to respect a customs union with Cyprus.

The governing AKP has been in power since 2002 and in last year's election increased its strength in the parliament, winning 47 percent of the vote.

The AKP is credited with improving Turkey's economy. Western diplomats are convinced that, despite its occasional Islamic statements, it is not a threat to secularism.

"We are not an extremist party, we are a party of the people," Mr. Erdogen said, asking the country for calm.

"This is a legal procedure. Any harm to democracy will not be tolerated," he said.