المستخلص: |
Turkey is witnessing a political conflict which causes widespread concern about the horrible destiny which may await the country. Although the ruling party was elected by a majority of Turks, it has faced a number of problems, culminating in the attempt by the Constitutional Court to ban the party for holding anti-secular activities. After long, closed sessions, which upset the ruling party, the ban was rejected on 30 July 2008. The chief justice Hasim Kalic ruled that the AKP will not be banned, but will lose perhaps one half of its public allowance. The ruling party verdict feared a ban. Previous incidents - such as the ban on the ruling Welfare Party in 1998 and the personal prosecution of its leader Najm-addin Erbekan a few years later - have been a nightmare for the AKP politicians. Therefore, they welcomed the verdict depriving them of half of their governmental financing and were relieved to remain in Turkish politics.
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