Turkish ruling party condemns headscarf ruling

By Selcuk Gokoluk

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's ruling AK Party accused the country's top court on Friday of violating the constitution by overturning a government-led reform that lifted a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities.

Thursday's Constitutional Court ruling was the most serious setback for the Islamist-rooted AK Party since it came to power in 2002. It increased the likelihood courts would, in a separate case pending, ban the party on charges of Islamist subversion and bar the prime minister and president from party activity.

"The Constitutional Court decision is direct interference in parliament's legislative power and this is an open violation of the principle of separation of powers," AK Party deputy chairman Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat told reporters after a 6-hour emergency meeting of top party members.

The secularist establishment, including army generals and judges, suspects the AK Party of harboring a hidden Islamist agenda. The Party, which embraces nationalists, market liberals and centre-right politicians as well as religious conservatives, denies such accusations.

Mustafa Unal, a columnist for religious-leaning daily Zaman, wrote: "This verdict will affect the closure case negatively."

The Constitutional Court -- whose rulings cannot be appealed -- is expected to rule on the separate AK Party closure case in the coming months; but if the party feels it has been boxed in, it may make a preemptive move, analysts said.

Firat declined to comment on the party's next move except to say Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan would speak on Tuesday. Firat said the party executives had not discussed early elections.

The political uncertainty sent the lira currency more than 1 percent lower against the dollar, hit stocks as well as bonds.