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Turkish court bans pro-Kurd party | Turkish court bans pro-Kurd party |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Turkey's Constitutional Court has voted to ban the country's largest pro-Kurdish party because of alleged links with Kurdish separatist rebels. | Turkey's Constitutional Court has voted to ban the country's largest pro-Kurdish party because of alleged links with Kurdish separatist rebels. |
Turkey's chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya argued that the Democratic Society Party (DTP) took orders from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). | Turkey's chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya argued that the Democratic Society Party (DTP) took orders from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). |
The DTP is the latest in a series of pro-Kurdish parties to have been closed down in Turkey. | The DTP is the latest in a series of pro-Kurdish parties to have been closed down in Turkey. |
The case has been criticised by the EU, which Turkey hopes to join. | The case has been criticised by the EU, which Turkey hopes to join. |
The 11 judges in the Constitutional Court ruled that the DTP had become a "focal point of activities against the indivisible unity of the state, the country and the nation", court president Hasim Kilic told reporters. | The 11 judges in the Constitutional Court ruled that the DTP had become a "focal point of activities against the indivisible unity of the state, the country and the nation", court president Hasim Kilic told reporters. |
He said DTP leaders Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk had been stripped of parliamentary immunity and banned from politics for five years along with 35 other party members. | He said DTP leaders Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk had been stripped of parliamentary immunity and banned from politics for five years along with 35 other party members. |
All party assets would be seized by the treasury, Mr Kilic added. | All party assets would be seized by the treasury, Mr Kilic added. |
The DTP holds 21 seats in Turkey's 550-member parliament. | The DTP holds 21 seats in Turkey's 550-member parliament. |
DTP supporters have staged protests outside the Turkish parliament | |
Some 40,000 people have died since the outlawed PKK launched an armed campaign in the mainly Kurdish south-east in 1984. | |
The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Istanbul, says the DTP's ban is another blow to the government's hopes of ending the conflict. | |
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to push through a package of reforms aimed at winning over the alienated Kurdish community and persuading militants to lay down their weapons. | |
Reacting to the ban, DTP chairman Mr Turk said it would not help to end the 25-year conflict. | |
"Turkey cannot resolve this problem by closing down parties," he said. | |
The court case has already caused unrest in Kurdish areas. | |
In the city of Hakkari - near the Iran and Iraq borders - Turkish police used water canon to break up a protest by Kurdish rebel supporters on Friday, Anatolia news agency reported. | |
Kurds make up about 20% of Turkey's population of more than 70 million. | |
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US. |