By Daren Butler
ISTANBUL, March 26 (Reuters) – Turkish civil society groups called for calm in Turkey on Wednesday amid strains over a court bid to close the ruling AK Party, saying the ease with which parties can be banned was harmful to democracy.
A chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court this month to shut down the AK Party for trying to create an Islamic state in secular but predominantly Muslim Turkey. The court has yet to decide whether to take up the case.
The AK Party, which has Islamist roots, denies the charges.
The threat of protracted political instability has unsettled financial markets. The lira
Court Rapporteur Osman Can told Reuters he had until Monday to present his non-binding opinion on whether the case should be pursued or not, and said he had not yet formed his view.
Responding to the tension, seven leading non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including chambers of commerce groups and labour unions launched the ‘Common Sense for Turkey’ initiative on Wednesday in 81 provinces across the country.
“Turkey is currently facing difficult political and legal tests. Our shared wish is for it to pass through this critical period without suffering harm,” said Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu.
“The ease with which political parties can be closed is harmful to democracy,” he said.
The prosecutor has also sought to ban 71 party officials, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, from politics for five years for alleged anti-secular activity. The party officials deny the charges.
ERDOGAN OPEN TO TALKS
Erdogan told reporters during a visit to the Albanian capital Tirana on Monday that he welcomed the NGOs’ initiative and may talk with the opposition in a bid to defuse the tensions, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.
“We are ready to take the lead in this process of creating such a shared outlook,” he said in an apparent softening of tone after recently hitting out at the opposition and the courts.
A Turkish opposition party signalled on Tuesday it may be willing to help the AK Party make changes to the constitution to head off the closure threat.
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), whose support would be needed to push constitutional changes through parliament, said it believed that the alternative — a referendum on the changes — would be highly divisive and should be avoided.
Amid the calls to ease tensions, President Gul was due on Thursday to meet the MHP leader Devlet Bahceli and the leader of the main opposition CHP party, Deniz Baykal.
Turkey’s secular elite, which includes the judiciary, army generals and university rectors, believes the AK Party is trying to undermine the separation of state and religion.
The AK Party and its party leaders deny the charges. It was set to present to parliament this week its proposed changes to the constitution to stave off the closure bid.
