Avril 21, 2008 | Today's Zaman İstanbul
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) may face a closure case at the Constitutional Court over money transfer it made to the neo-nationalist TV network Kanal Türk, news reports said on Sunday.
Currently, Turkey's Democratic Society Party (DTP) and ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) are facing closure cases in the Constitutional Court over allegations of separatism and anti-secularism, respectively. The CHP is now facing the same fate after the Finance Ministry filed a case against the party with regards to a YTL 3 million transfer the party made from its funds to Kanal Türk.
No invoices were issued for the money transfer. Although Mustafa Özyürek, deputy leader of the CHP, in a press conference over the issue late last year claimed that this money was paid for future ads and commercials, the owner of the network, Tuncay Özkan, in a statement said his television network was "at the CHP's service."
Legal experts note that the YTL 3 million makes the CHP a secret partner of the broadcaster -- a violation of a number of articles of the Law on Political Parties, including one that regulates the conditions of political party expenditure.
The charges against the CHP were brought to the attention of the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office and the Constitutional Court in May of last year. The case makes the CHP the third party facing the threat of closure by the Constitutional Court, responsible for checking the accounts of political parties. In the past parties have been closed over financial irregularities.
Last month, the Constitutional Court decided unanimously to hear an appeal from a senior prosecutor to close Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AK Party on charges that it had become a "focal point for anti-secular activities."
The prosecutor has also sought a five-year ban from politics for 71 politicians, including Erdoğan and former AK Party member President Abdullah Gül. The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, has harshly criticized the case and even warned that accession talks with Turkey could come to a halt if the AK Party is closed down.
The government is expected to decide soon on how to proceed with plans to change the Constitution in order to stave off the threat of closure; options available to it include either pushing for a comprehensive overhaul of the Constitution -- a legacy of the 1980 military coup -- or presenting a smaller package of reforms that would include amendments to make party closures more difficult, along with some other urgent political reforms.
Last year Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya filed charges against the DTP for being "against the indivisible integrity of the state and the nation" and called for the party's "permanent closure." An appeal has also been made for the imprisonment of 221 DTP supporters, including eight deputies, for five years.