Turkey's Top Court Expected To Set A Date To Debate Closure Case Against Ak Party

ANKARA - Turkey's top court is expected to set a date to begin hearing the closure case against the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party.
The Constitutional Court delegation will convene at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The delegation, which examined the report written by Osman Can, is expected to set a date to debate the closure case during the meeting.
On that day, the court delegation will start hearing the case on its merits.
Earlier, rapporteur Can advocated in his report that the court should reject the closure case.
Under the Constitution, qualified majority of votes is required to disband a political party. Accordingly, at least 7 out of 11 members of the court need to vote in favor of the closure of the party.
The Constitutional Court can also rule to deprive the AK Party of financial assistance of the Treasury instead of its dissolution.
The chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals, filed a lawsuit on March 14th, asking the top court of Turkey to ban the AK Party for anti-secular activities.
In his indictment, the chief prosecutor also demanded 71 people, including President Abdullah Gul, former foreign minister, and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to be banned from politics for five years.
(UK-AÖ)
(GEN)