Turkey bans pro-Kurdish party over ties to rebels

Erkut — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:41:22 +0000

Turkey’s top court on Friday banned a pro-Kurdish political party on charges of ties to Kurdish rebels, a decision likely to disrupt a struggling reconciliation process between the state and minority Kurds.

Hasim Kilic, head of the Constitutional Court, said the court also expelled Democratic Society Party chairman Ahmet Turk and another legislator, Aysel Tugluk, from parliament, barring them and 35 other party members from joining any political party for five years.

Mr. Kilic said the party had become “a focal point of activities against the state’s unity” with its “actions and ties to the terrorist organization” — a reference to the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has fought for autonomy from the Turkish state since 1984.

Rising Islamist Movements Challenge Secularism in Turkey

Erkut — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:33:11 +0000

Almost all of 77 million people in Turkey are Muslim, but signs of Islamic faith are noticeably divorced from everyday life. But a growing number of Turks are joining conservative movements that believe religion should play a greater role in the country’s ethical and moral values. Secular critics brand these religious groups as fundamentalist.

Correspondent Gizem Yarbil and producer Bryan Myers report on how traditional religion and modern democracy are trying to coexist in Turkey today.

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Turkey bans pro-Kurdish party over ties to rebels

Rising Islamist Movements Challenge Secularism in Turkey