''Political Islam in Turkey claims to change state rules''

Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, said Saturday "political Islam in Turkey has a claim to change state and society rules, by not being restricted in the area between the person and the God."

"The main principle of political Islam is sharia," Yalcinkaya wrote in his indictment on the closure case against the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP). Yalcinkaya petitioned to the Constitutional Court on Friday, and filed a lawsuit to close the AKP, saying that "the party has become the focal point of anti-secular activities." The indictment said, "in secular state order, source of public arrangements cannot be religious rules; and it cannot even be thought to make these arrangements according to religious rules."

ACTIVITIES TO EVISCERATE PRINCIPLE OF SECULARISM

The chief prosecutor said political parties have to obey the rules aiming to protect the principle of secularism, and even they have to work to improve this principle. "If political parties express views aiming to eviscerate the principle of secularism -- defined in the Constitution, and to change this principle; if they act against human rights, equality, state of law principles, national sovereignty, democratic and secular Republic; if they defend any type of dictatorship/totalitarianism and encourage others to commit crime within this framework; all these behaviors will be against principle of secularism," the indictment said.
The indictment also said one cannot see any provisions against the secular model in the regulations and program of the AK Party. However, the party behaves against laws and the Constitution with its anti-secular activities and remarks, it claimed.

PROSECUTOR DEMANDS POLITICAL BAN FOR 71 PEOPLE

In his indictment, the chief prosecutor demanded that 71 people should be banned from politics for five years. These people are: "Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bulent Arinc, Abdullah Gul, Huseyin Celik, Omer
Dincer, Fahri Keskin, Burhan Kuzu, Eyup Fatsa, Nihat Eri, Eyup Sanay, Tayyar Altikulac, Omer Ozyilmaz, Sadullah Ergin, Cavit Torun, Asim Aykan, Irfan Gunduz, Mehmet Cicek, Idris Naim Sahin, Binali Yildirim, Akif Gulle, Hasan Kara, Fehmi Husrev Kutlu, Musa Uzunkaya, Mehmet Aydin, Guldal Aksit, Ersonmez Yarbay, Ahmet Faruk Unsal, Mehmet Elkatmis, Abdullah Calıskan, Nihat Ergun, Bulent Gedikli, Egemen Bagis, Resul Tosun, Hayati Yazici, Sadik Yakut, Abdurrahman Kurt, Muzaffer Kulcu, Selami Uzun, Fatma Seniha Nukhet Hotar Goksel, Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, Mehmet Zafer Uskul, Huseyin Tugcu, Mehmet Cemal Oztaylan, Husnu Tuna, Fatma Sahin, Muzaffer Gulyurt, Muhyettin Aksak, Bekir Bozdag, Nurettin Canikli, Mustafa Elitas, Recep Akdag, Cevdet Erdol, Huseyin Tanriverdi,
Ayse Bohurler, Hasan Cuneyt Zapsu, Hasan Balaman, Ali Ugurlu, Kamil Unal, Mustafa Burna, Ali Tekin, Suleyman Kaldirim, Mustafa Tarlaci, Ayse Yurekliturk, Ahmet Genc, Mehmet Demirci, Ahmet Misbah Demircan, Huseyin Turan, Ibrahim Karaosmanoglu, Alaaddin Yilmaz, Ibrahim Halici, Ahmet Sukru Kilic."

Yalcinkaya also put into his indictment several statements made by President Abdullah Gul while he was the foreign minister. The indictment also lists, under 16 chapters, former Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc's "speeches and activities against the principle of secular state". It also includes Arinc's speeches on headscarf. Another AKP member whose statements were listed in the indictment was National Education Minister Huseyin Celik. Celik's statements and speeches were briefed under 9 chapters. The indictment also includes excerpts from a book "Change, Democracy and Intellectuals in Turkey" written by Celik and his criticism over university rectors regarding headscarf issue.

PM ERDOGAN'S SPEECHES

The chief prosecutor collected "anti-secular activities and speeches of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan" under 61 chapters in his indictment. These speeches include Erdogan's remarks on the ruling of the Council of State regarding headscarf, the words he used in Spain in January 2008 saying "even if (headscarf) is a political symbol".

CONCLUSION

In its indictment, the chief prosecutor said, "all the evidence prove that the articles 10 and 42 of the Constitution were amended to change the essence of the principle of secularism." "Today, fundamentalists have gone beyond their demands to free headscarf in public areas, and they have started to say in open sessions on TV channels -- without any hesitation -- that they will try and punish those who defend headscarf ban. Even this is enough to show what kind of a threat the secular state principle and those defending Turkey are facing, and it also indicates the violence sharia includes," the indictment said.

"If the principle of secularism, the irrevocable provision of the constitution, is harmed, the authority and duty of the public prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals begins to protect the regime," Yalcinkaya said in his indictment. "Other than AKP has become the focal point of anti-secular activities, considering the density of mentioned activities and the level of determination, these activities are suitable grounds for people to face with serious and severe consequences," he said. "The sanction of closure is the only option to resort and that has to be done in pluralist democratic system which also befits the goal," the prosecutor concluded.

AKP

AKP was established on August 14th, 2001. Winning general elections on November 3rd, 2002 and July 22nd, 2007, the party gained majority in the parliament and formed a government on its own.