PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS RECENT TSK GROUND OFFENSIVE IN NORTHERN IRAQ
Parliament is set to hold a session this Thursday in response to a call by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) for a special debate on the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) recent operation into northern Iraq. The session will be closed, and no one except parliamentary deputies will be allowed in. The government is expected to reply to opposition criticisms on the timing of the cross-border ground operation. The minutes of closed sessions can only be released after 10 years have elapsed. /Aksam/
CHIEF PROSECUTOR FILES CASE SEEKING CLOSURE OF RULING AKP
The chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals applied to the Constitutional Court on Friday for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on charges of anti-secular activities. Shortly after news of the prosecutor's move came out, Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan convened his party's Central Executive Board (MYK) to decide on a course of action in response to the charges. Senior party members with legal backgrounds led by State Minister Cemil Cicek were named to a committee to fight the closure case. The indictment of Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya demanded that 71 senior party members, including founders Erdogan, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, and President Abdullah Gul, be barred from engaging in political activity for the next five years. /All Papers/
LEGAL PROCESS OF AKP CLOSURE CASE TO BEGIN TODAY
Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hasim Kilic told reporters yesterday that after copies of Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya's indictment seeking closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are handed out to his colleagues, the legal process will officially begin today. After an initial assessment by the top court's members, a legal process that could last months or even years could begin. After the indictment is forwarded to the AKP, the party must prepare a preliminary defense within one month. Under the Constitution, seven of the court's 11 members would need to approve the indictment for the closure to take effect. /Aksam/
SPURNING CLOSURE CASE, ERDOGAN PLEDGES AKP WILL CONTINUE ITS WORK
Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan yesterday lashed out at a new prosecutor's case seeking the closure of his party. "Is it only the AKP's duty to think of this nation's future, international stature, and democratic and economic gains?" he asked at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Women's Branch Congress in Sanliurfa. "Our statements and acts are clear. Our path and policy are quite clear. Just as we have done so far, we will continue to work to achieve the ideals of the republic, which is a democratic, secular, social state ruled by the law." Erdogan reiterated that his party is opposed to extremism, violence and fanaticism, and added that they have fought and will continue to fight such extremism everywhere. "Someone who hails anti-democratic tendencies may think that Turkey deserves a third-class democracy," he added. Erdogan dismissed efforts to link the AKP to fundamentalism, fanaticism, terrorism or violence as "not serious." /Hurriyet-Sabah/
BAYKAL: "THE CHP OPPOSES PARTY CLOSURES, BUT WE ALSO RESPECT THE LAW"
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) opposes party closures, but it also respects the law, said CHP leader Deniz Baykal yesterday. "When a party gets 47% of the votes, doesn't the law still apply?" he asked at a meeting in Istanbul. "I said that the AKP shouldn't interfere with the republic's values. They denied that had any such aim. The current situation is clear." /Sabah/
BABACAN: "THE CLOSURE CASE AGAINST THE AKP IS AN ANACHRONISM"
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power with the people's support, and that cannot support be ignored, said Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday of the new prosecutor's case to close down the AKP. In a TV interview, Babacan warned that bringing the ruling party representing the people into conflict with the judiciary could end up damaging Turkey. Calling the case an "anachronism," he added, "This case doesn't fit in with Turkey, which has been showing great progress in democracy in our time." /Milliyet/
TUSIAD CALLS CASE TO CLOSE AKP "UNACCEPTABLE"
The Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) yesterday denounced a new prosecutor's case seeking the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). "It is unacceptable for Turkish democracy that political parties which are indispensable to democratic life come to face demands for closure, regardless of the size of their public mandate," said a TUSIAD statement. /Sabah/
BRITAIN'S MILIBAND: "THE AKP CLOSURE CASE VIOLATES EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC STANDARDS"
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband yesterday said a new case seeking closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) violates European democratic standards and the principle of the separation of powers. "We are very concerned about the case, and hope that it will end in line with the highest norms of democracy," said Miliband. /Star/
LAGENDIJK BLASTS CLOSURE CASE AS ATTEMPTED "JUDICIAL COUP"
Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman Joost Lagendijk said yesterday that he don't believe claims that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is harming the principle of secularism, warning further that Turkish-EU relations could be harmed by the new case seeking the AKP's closure. "In Europe, nobody accepts the idea that closing a political party is the solution," said Lagendijk. "Those who have a problem with AKP should fight it democratically. Using the power of the judiciary against the AKP with false claims could be called a judicial coup." /Star/