Turkey's AKP closure more likely with headscarf ruling

"The Constitutional Court's decision to annul the bill lifting the headscarf ban in universities also carries a critical place for the AKP's closure case that has been submitted to the same court," the Hurriyet daily reported on Friday.The Constitutional Court's handed down its decision to annul the bill lifting the headscarf ban in universities on Thursday. The court made reference to the crucial Article 2 of the Turkish Constitution, in which the country's secularism has its legal grounds, in its historic decision. Article 2 of the constitution describes Turkey as a "secular and democratic Republic," and Article 4 says the first three articles cannot be amended or even proposed to be amended. The headscarf bill was cited as evidence by the chief prosecutor in the case filed to have the AKP closed. "The decision is also strong evidence for the most important part of the top prosecutor's indictment against AKP," Milliyet daily reported on Friday. "The top prosecutor evaluated the bill as the most important act of the AKP, and this was the turning point for him to decide to file the case against the AKP," Milliyet added. Turkey's chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, filed a lawsuit against the AKP with the Constitutional Court in March, claiming the party became the "focal point of anti-secular activities," and demanded 71 officials, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, be banned from politics for five years.

DIFFERENT CASES, SAME JUDGES

Ergun Ozbudun, a professor of constitutional law said that both cases are different and should be assessed separately, although the same judges are in charge of ruling on both cases.

"We now understood the judge's point of view after the headscarf decision. I will not be surprised if they also decide to ban the ruling AKP," he added.

Milliyet's Ankara Bureau Chief Fikret Bila also mentioned the importance of headscarf case in top prosecutor's indictment in his column on Friday and pointed at the correlation between the two cases.

"The court's recent decision is important for the closure case of ruling the AKP since the top prosecutor had submitted this move as evidence in his indictment," Bila wrote.

"A decision to close down the AKP has become inevitable," the Vatan newspaper also wrote.

Turkey's financial markets also see the verdict as a key decision that could prompt the court to outlaw the party altogether.

"This verdict has a key importance because if the lifting the headscarf ban is indeed against the secularism principle, then this would constitute a validation of the chief prosecutor's claim that the AKP is a 'hub of anti-secularist activities'," Basak Karaaslan, Finansbank economist said. "In this regard, the cancellation of the headscarf changes could be seen as a strong signal that the AKP would be closed," he said.

The sell-off in the markets pushed yields on benchmark bonds to over 20.50 percent, the highest since January 2007 on Friday. The Istanbul Stock Exchange closed 2 percent down, and the lira dropped to 1.2350 per dollar from 1.2300 before the ruling.

On the other hand, Yekta Gungor Ozden, former president of the Constitutional Court said the two case files are separate and independent from each other.

"Every single case is evaluated independently in the Constitutional Court. And they are separate to each other. This is why this case does not affect the closure case," Ozden added.

Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek also shared Ozden's opinions on the possible repercussions. "Both case have different assessment processes to each other, apples and pears should not be put in the same basket, and things should not be mixed together," Cicek commented.

Photo: DHA