By SPA
Istanbul : Turkey’s chief prosecutor is seeking to disband the country’s governing party and to bar Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from holding public office, ap quoted a court official as saying.
Erdogan’s party has tried to chip away at the principle of secularism, by claiming that the constitutional description of secularism is «obscure,» Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya claimed in an indictment.
Yalcinkaya petitioned the Constitutional Court _ Turkey’s highest court _ on Friday for the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party, which dominates the 550-seat Parliament with 340 lawmakers. He said the party was the focal point of anti-secular activities.
The move took the nation by surprise. The political leadership complained that the action undermined the country’s democratic principles.
The prosecutor demanded a total of 70 party members including Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul be barred from political life for five years.