Turkish court examines party as bombs toll reaches 17

By Paul de Bendern and Humeyra Pamuk

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's highest court on Monday began considering whether to shut down the governing party for Islamist activities against a background of tension following two bomb attacks in Istanbul.

The blasts killed 17 people and wounded more than 150 people on Sunday just hours before the Constitutional Court judges were set to look at the case. Five of the dead were children, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said.

"We have been fighting terror for 30 to 35 years. This fight will continue until we win it," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told residents at the site of the blasts in a working-class neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul.

"Today is a day for unity," Erdogan said.

In the emotionally charged aftermath of the bombings, the Constitutional Court began examining whether the AK Party had engaged in Islamist activities and should be closed. The party denies the charges and a ruling is expected in early August.

The court case is linked to a long-running power struggle between Turkey's secularist establishment and the Islamist-rooted AK Party, which are at odds over the direction of the officially secular but predominantly Muslim country.

"Our problem is not whether or not the AK Party will be closed. Our problem at the moment is to keep our unity so our country will go in a different direction," Erdogan said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks, the deadliest in Turkey since 2003. But police were increasingly looking at the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit said in a statement: "The attacks, which were staged in a crowded street at a busy hour and without discriminating between men and women, young, old and children, showed once again the gory face, ruthlessness and despair of terrorism."

Governor Guler said there were signs of links the separatist group but pro-PKK websites reported it as condemning the attacks and denying any involvement.

Newspapers said three people had been detained.

BODIES STREWN ACROSS STREET

The site was cordoned off on Monday. The AK Party is popular in the area and Erdogan received a warm welcome from residents.

Kurdish separatists, far-left groups and Islamist militants have all carried out bombings in Istanbul in the past.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has waged a campaign for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey since 1984. But it usually does not target civilians.