BERLIN - German Greens leader Claudia Roth qualified the filing of an indictment in Turkey to close the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party as "ridiculous," saying "there are no other parties in Europe that has won such an achievement in elections."
Appearing at a press conference Tuesday in capital Berlin on her prospective visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Roth said closing the AK Party would mean "declaring the votes of almost half of the Turkish electorate invalid."
"Closing down a political party is the most difficult thing in a democracy," Roth said.
Roth stated that she would meet TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat and Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer and Parliament Speaker Fatma Ekenoglu as well as scholars and students from the Eastern Mediterranean University.
"As the Greens Party, we want to tear down the last remaining wall in Europe and we want to contribute to the removal of the division," she said.
(YMB-AÖ)