Turkey's AKP denies all claims, demands court to reject closure call

The AKP published its verbal defense on the official party website. The AKP based its defense on legal grounds and made reference to related legislation or court rulings including the European Convention on Human Rights, earlier rulings handed down by the European Court of Human Rights, the constitution, political parties’ law, and previous Constitutional Court's rulings.Â

  Â

AKP's defense was submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and the deputy leader of parliamentary group Bekir Bozdag. The verbal defense lasted six-and-a-half hours.

 

Turkey's chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya had filed a closure case against the ruling AKP in March, claiming the party became the "focal point of anti-secular activities". One of the strongest pieces of evidence cited in the case by the chief prosecutor is the AKP-led law lifting the ban on the headscarf at universities.

 

AKP continued its attempts to distance itself from the so-called headscarf ruling in its defense, and added it cannot be admitted as evidence since it was annulled by the court. In early July, the Constitutional Court annulled the law, saying it violated the principle of secularism.

 

Cicek said the AKP had adopted a "solution with compromise" approach in its bid to "resolve such a long-lasting problem". "Those amendments in the 10th and 42nd Articles of the Turkish Constitution were approved with the support of deputies from the AKP, MHP, DTP, BBP and some independent deputies," Cicek said, denying claims that the party creates tension in the country.

 

He also said it is legally impossible to place the sole responsibility for the amendments with the AKP. "Moreover, if those amendments are basic indicators of an open and imminent threat, as mentioned by the prosecutor, then the Constitutional Court's decision to annul those amendments means that this threat has been removed."

 

 

NO TIES WITH FORMER BANNED PARTIES

The AKP had also denied any relations with any banned Islamic political movements. The AKP has roots in parties banned for their Islamic activities, and many members of the party, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul, former speaker of parliament, Bulent Arinc, Cicek and other ministers, had taken part in those movements.

 

"I hope this is the final party closure case, even if we still have the related legislations in place," Cicek told at the hearing.

 

"The AKP had become the focal point of not anti-secular activities but of serving our country and our nation with the works it undertook since the day it was established," he said, and asked the court to reject demands for the party's closure.

 

According to the legal procedure, the court's rapporteur will submit and distribute his report on the merits of the case to court members and a decision date will be announced by the court’s chairman, Hasim Kilic.  Â

 

A court official said although it is impossible to give a date for the ruling, the case could be finalized in "four to five weeks" but it could also take "three-six weeks".