ANKARA - Turkey's top court will ask prosecutors to press charges against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his sharp criticism of a ruling to cancel a disputed presidential vote, the court president said Wednesday.
"The prime minister's remarks sideline the undisputed supremacy of law and court decisions; include threats, insults and enmity; and turn our court into a target," Tulay Tugcu told a news conference here.
Erdogan's remarks "exceed the boundaries of respect and criticism," Tugcu said. "No one can act outside the constitutional framework."
Tugcu was speaking a day after Erdogan sharply denounced the constitutional court's ruling earlier this month that voided a first round of voting in parliament to elect the next president.
"The ruling is unfortunate, it is a disgrace for the judiciary," Erdogan said in a live interview with the NTV news channel, adding that the court had given the ruling under pressure and coercion.
The court had been petitioned by the main opposition party in a bid to block Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist and the sole presidential candidate, from becoming the next head of state.
The court annulled the vote on a quorum rule, thus blocking the election of Gul, who secularists feared would increase the influence of religion had he become president.
The crisis, marked by a stiff army warning that it stood ready to defend Turkey's secular regime, forced Gul to withdraw his candidacy and the ruling Islamist-rooted government to bring legislative elections forward to July 22 from November.
When the constitutional court files a complaint against Erdogan, a prosecutor will launch a preliminary probe to determine whether there is a need for a full judicial investigation that could pave the way for charges against the prime minister.
The prosecutor would have to ask parliament for permission to carry out such an investigation since Erdogan has political immunity.
Earlier this month, Erdogan called the court ruling a "bullet fired at democracy," triggering a warning from the court that he was "committing a crime with his "irresponsible" remarks.
The prime minister backpedalled hours later, saying he was criticising not the court but the main opposition leader.
Media reports at the time said that an Ankara prosecutor had launched an investigation on whether Erdogan had violated the law with his remarks.
05/30/2007 15:13 GMT