Six of the court's 11 judges ruled for the party's closure; one vote short of the number necessary to actually close down the party. Kılıç said this was a "serious warning" to the AK Party. Only Kılıç himself voted against any sanctions against the AK Party, while four of the other judges voted to cut Treasury aid. He also said he believed the AK Party "would make the necessary analysis and learn the necessary lesson." Judge Kılıç started his announcement criticizing Turkey's politicians for not passing a regulation that would make it more difficult to open closure cases. He highlighted that the case has had political, economic and social consequences. "This is why our 70-million-strong nation has been waiting for the ruling," he said.
The judge noted that the Constitutional Court not long ago had to deal with an appeal against a constitutional change allowing the wearing of the headscarf on university campuses earlier in June. The court ruled against the amendment. He also responded to criticisms directed at the court for assigning the same rapporteur to the closure case who worked on the headscarf case, explaining that the same person had been assigned to both cases considering his experience because both cases were related to secularism.
He said the press has been very unfair in its criticism of the Constitutional Court.
"We would like to see this resolved through negotiation between political parties without launching a suit," he said. He called on politicians to make the necessary legal changes to avoid a similar crisis in the future. He also called on them to work to ensure the conditions where all segments can live together in the society and make the effort to relieve the tension prevailing in the country.
With the decision the AK Party is to lose half of the aid it receives from the Treasury. It received YTL 47 million last year.
The declaration came in the evening, hours after the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) was closed. The decision is expected to boost financial markets, starting today.
Supreme Military Council decision
The Constitutional Court's ruling also decided on who will chair the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting, scheduled to start on Friday. YAŞ decides military promotions and dismissals. Analysts have been fretting that a YAŞ without the prime minister's participation would have seriously disturbed the traditions of the military.
Background information on closure case
A state prosecutor asked the top court on March 14 to close the governing AK Party on grounds that it had become a focal point of "anti-secular activities." He also called for a ban on 71 of its current and former high-level officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül, from belonging to a political party for five years.
Court rapporteur Osman Can filed his recommendation to the top court on July 16 and advised the court not to disband the AK Party, refuting claims that the party's agenda and program were against secularism. "The AK Party has not become a focal point of anti-secular activities as defined in Article 68 of the Constitution. It has not violated the relevant articles of the Law on Political Parties which require the closure of a political party," read Can's report.
The closure case has deepened divisions between the AK Party government and an elite group of military, judicial and academic officials who regard themselves as the guardians of the secular order in the country.
Their power struggle with the AK Party flared up in January when the government lifted a ban on female students wearing the headscarf on university campuses. The Constitutional Court later annulled the reform.
Since its establishment in 1962, the Constitutional Court has banned 24 political parties. A number have been closed on the grounds of violating the principle of secularism, others for religious fundamentalism, others for their emphasis on Kurdish identity -- which the court stated posed a threat to the territorial integrity of the Turkish Republic -- and still others for their alleged communist ideological agenda.
Another closure case is under deliberation at the Constitutional Court against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). The case against the DTP was lodged at the top court last November by a top state prosecutor, seeking to close the party on charges of separatism.
The judges' votes
Six of the 11 members of the court ruled to close the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on charges that it had become a focal point of anti-secular activity while four others agreed that it had become a focal point, but not so threatening as to deserve closure. Chief Judge Haşim Kılıç was the only member who voted against both closure and a cut in Treasury funding. The judges who voted for closure include Osman Paksüt, Fulya Kantarcıoğlu, Mehmet Erten, Necmi Özder, Şevket Apalak and Zehra Ayla Pektaş. The judges who voted against closure but called for financial sanctions were Sacit Adalı, Ahmet Akyalçın, Serdar Özgüldür and Ferruh Kaleli.
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