ANKARA - Turkey's Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said Monday that he believed Turkey would overcome the political crisis caused by the dissolution case filed against ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party.
Toptan met Austrian President Heinz Fischer at the Parliament. Ficher asked Toptan's views about the dissolution case.
Toptan then referred to the two dissolution cases currently before Turkey's Constitutional Court (one against ruling AK Party and the other against DTP-Democratic Society Party) and said, "I believe the court will give the best decision regarding both cases .
-DISSOLUTION CASES AGAINST AK PARTY AND DTP-
On December 2007, Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya filed a dissolution case against DTP on the grounds that the party had become a focal point of activities against the sovereignty of the state and indivisible unity of the country and the nation.
Yalcinkaya asked the court to forbid DTP from participating in elections during the trial period.
Later on March 14th, 2008, Yalcinkaya filed another lawsuit asking the Constitutional Court to close AK Party on the ground that the party had become the focal point of anti-secular activities.
In his indictment, he demanded 71 people --including President Abdullah Gul (a former FM) and PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan-- to be banned from politics for five years.
Both cases are still pending before the Court.
According to the Constitution, at least 7 of the 11 members of the court have to vote for closure in order for the court to shut down a political party.
In line with Article 69 of the Constitution, the court may instead decide to reduce or cut the financial aid allocated to a given political party from the Treasury.
(OZG-ULG)