Ankara: The deputy prime minister defended Turkey's ruling party in court today against charges that it is steering the country toward Islamic rule.

The Constitutional Court's chief prosecutor is demanding the Islamic-rooted party be disbanded for anti-secular activity and that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and 70 other party members be barred from joining a political party for five years.

Erdogan's party has been locked in an increasingly tense power struggle with secular groups supported by the military and other state institutions, including the judiciary. This week police investigating an alleged coup plot by secularists rounded up two retired generals and some of the government s fiercest critics.

The court is expected to decide within months whether to grant the prosecution s request to disband Erdogan's party. Some observers have said a ruling in favour of disbanding the party could throw the country into political and economic instability.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, a former lawyer, and another party official delivered arguments in the party s defence during today's closed-door hearing.

"From now on, it is up to the Constitutional Court," Cicek said as he left the court house. He gave no details of the party's defence, but said he told the court that a quick decision would help the government to see its future.

Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya laid out his case against the party on Tuesday, arguing there was a "clear and present" danger that the ruling party was seeking to impose Islamic law on Turkey.

Yalcinkaya has cited the government s attempt to permit Islamic-style head scarves at universities - an attempt blocked by the Constitutional Court, which ruled last month the measure was unconstitutional.

Source : PTI