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Friday, December 11, 2009
20:52 Mecca time, 17:52 GMT
Aljazeera.net
News Europe
Turkey court bans pro-Kurdish party
Turkey's constitutional court has banned the country's main
pro-Kurdish party for having links to armed separatist fighters.
The court voted on Friday to shut down the Democratic Society Party
(DTP) and banned dozens of members from joining other political
parties for five years.
It also expelled two of the party's politicians, including Ahmet Turk,
the DTP leader, from parliament.
The court found the party guilty of co-operating with the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has lasted 25 years and
claimed 40,000 lives.
Consequences
The ruling is likely to hamper Turkey's efforts to join the European
Union, which had warned Ankara that banning the party would violate
Kurdish rights.
Turkey's Kurdish population, whose language was outlawed for years,
has long complained of discrimination.
But Hasim Kilic, the constitutional court chairman, said the party's
closure "was decided due to its connections with the terror
organisation and because it became a focal point of the activities
against the country's integrity".
The ruling comes after weeks of clashes between police and protesters
angry at the the prison treatment of Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of
the PKK.
Earlier this week a protester was shot dead as 15,000 pro-Kurdish
protesters marched in the city of Diyarbakir.
Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Turkey, said there are
fears the ruling will lead to more violence.
"We've seen an escalation of street protests, we're now seeing
fatalities ... and this will be seen by many Kurds as provocation,
they will not take this well," she said.
The DTP was founded in 2005 as a successor to several Kurdish parties
that were forced to wind up for collaborating with the PKK.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the
international community.
The party says it has "no organic links" with the separatists, but
insists the group should be considered an interlocutor in efforts to
resolve the Kurdish conflict.
20:52 Mecca time, 17:52 GMT
Aljazeera.net
News Europe
Turkey court bans pro-Kurdish party
Turkey's constitutional court has banned the country's main
pro-Kurdish party for having links to armed separatist fighters.
The court voted on Friday to shut down the Democratic Society Party
(DTP) and banned dozens of members from joining other political
parties for five years.
It also expelled two of the party's politicians, including Ahmet Turk,
the DTP leader, from parliament.
The court found the party guilty of co-operating with the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast in a conflict that has lasted 25 years and
claimed 40,000 lives.
Consequences
The ruling is likely to hamper Turkey's efforts to join the European
Union, which had warned Ankara that banning the party would violate
Kurdish rights.
Turkey's Kurdish population, whose language was outlawed for years,
has long complained of discrimination.
But Hasim Kilic, the constitutional court chairman, said the party's
closure "was decided due to its connections with the terror
organisation and because it became a focal point of the activities
against the country's integrity".
The ruling comes after weeks of clashes between police and protesters
angry at the the prison treatment of Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of
the PKK.
Earlier this week a protester was shot dead as 15,000 pro-Kurdish
protesters marched in the city of Diyarbakir.
Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Turkey, said there are
fears the ruling will lead to more violence.
"We've seen an escalation of street protests, we're now seeing
fatalities ... and this will be seen by many Kurds as provocation,
they will not take this well," she said.
The DTP was founded in 2005 as a successor to several Kurdish parties
that were forced to wind up for collaborating with the PKK.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the
international community.
The party says it has "no organic links" with the separatists, but
insists the group should be considered an interlocutor in efforts to
resolve the Kurdish conflict.