BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia (AFP) — The EU Commission on Saturday urged Turkey's judges to consider Ankara's "long-term interests" in deciding if the ruling party can be tried on charges of undermining the country's secular order.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, speaking in Slovenia after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, said Turkey's EU aspirations could be affected over a case he said he viewed with "growing concern and frankly disbelief."
Turkey's top court will likely begin arguments on Monday on whether to put the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) on trial over the charges.
If it is found guilty the AKP party could face a political ban.
"I hope the judges will consider Turkey's long-term interests... to be an important European democracy respecting all democratic principles of the EU," Rehn told a press conference.
Largely Muslim Turkey is a candidate to become a member of the European Union.
Rehn said the AKP case revealed a "system error" in the Turkish constitutional framework which may require a constitutional amendment.
"In a normal democracy, this kind of political decision should be debated in parliament and decided through ballot boxes, not in courtrooms," Rehn said.
He reminded Turkey that EU candidate nations must adhere to democratic principles.
"The EU accession negotiation framework says that in case of a serious breach of democratic principles in Turkey, the Commission is obliged to look at what ramifications this could have for negotiations," he told a press conference in Brdo, near Ljubljana, following a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers.
"Let's hope that reason will prevail, but we should not underestimate the potential ramifications," he stressed.
The EU has already frozen talks with Turkey in eight of the 35 policy areas that candidates are required to complete in response to Ankara's refusal to deal freely with EU member Cyprus.
The AKP, an offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, has disowned its roots, pledged commitment to secularism and embraced Turkey's EU bid.
The country's chief prosecutor, however, charges that moves such as the abolition of a ban on the Islamic headscarf in universities last month and a ban on alcohol in restaurants run by AKP municipalities indicate the party's ambitions to establish an "Islamist-inspired" system.
Critics have decried the legal onslaught as a blow to democracy and a fresh attempt by hardline secularist forces, which include the army, the judiciary and academics.
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