EU voices renewed concern on Turkey court case

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union voiced renewed concern on Monday after Turkey's highest court agreed to hear a case to shut down the ruling party and bar the prime minister from politics for alleged Islamist subversion.

European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said he would brief the full European Commission on the case on Wednesday, saying it exposed a "systemic error" in the EU candidate country's constitution that may require an amendment.

"The prohibition or dissolution of political parties is a far-reaching measure which should be used with the utmost restraint," Rehn said in a statement. "I do not see any such justification for this case."

He repeated two previous warnings that in EU member states, the kind of political issues referred by the state prosecutor to the constitutional court were debated in parliament and decided through the ballot box, not in courtrooms.

According to Council of Europe guidelines on best practice for European democracies, such a measure could be justified only if a party advocated or used violence to overthrow the democratic constitutional order, he said.

Rehn welcomed the Turkish government's declared intention to overhaul constitutional provisions "that are causing problems for Turkey's democracy".

His announcement that he would inform the full 27-member Commission underlined the seriousness with which the case is seen in Brussels and the possible implications for Turkey's membership bid.

Under the negotiating framework agreed in 2004, the Commission can recommend suspending the accession negotiations in case of "a serious and persistent breach in Turkey of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law".

The EU executive may act on its own initiative or at the request of one-third of member states. The council of member states would then decide on a possible suspension by qualified majority vote after having heard Turkey.

EU sources said talk of suspension was premature since the court had not yet heard what was likely to be a lengthy case and the outcome was uncertain. Constitutional reforms might also change the picture.

Turkey began entry negotiations in 2005 but has made only slow progress, partly because of the unresolved Cyprus dispute but also because of slow progress in EU-mandated reforms and reluctance in EU countries such as Austria and France.

(Reporting by Paul Taylor; Editing by Dale Hudson)