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Article: Turkish Islamic-oriented party faces closure amid tension with secular circles
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- March 17, 2008
- Author:
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Turkey's prime minister has criticized legal efforts to have his Islamic-oriented party disbanded as undemocratic, and proclaimed his loyalty to the country's secular traditions.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party have faced months of pressure, legal challenges and criticism from Turkey's judiciary and military, where many fear religion is encroaching on the secularism established when modern Turkey was founded in 1923.
On Monday the Constitutional Court will announce whether it will hear a complaint by Turkey's chief prosecutor asking that Erdogan's party be shut down on the grounds that it is undermining secularism.
The ...