Turkish court expected to rule this year on banning Islamic party

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuters) -- Turkey's top court expects to rule on a bid to close the country's Islamic main opposition party by the end of the year, the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Friday.

Banning of the Virtue party, if accompanied by expulsion of its deputies from parliament, could raise the prospect of by-elections that could destabilize Turkey's government and a $4 billion disinflation plan backed by the International Monetary Fund.

It could also strengthen European critics who demand broader political freedom if Turkey is to join the European Union.

Constitutional Court chairman Mustafa Bumin was quoted as saying he expected to begin deliberations in 15 days on the bid to close Virtue.

The state prosecutor argues it is merely a continuation of the previously banned Islamic party Welfare and seeks to overturn Turkey's secular order.

Turkey's powerful military, which has taken power in coups three times since 1960, nudged the country's only Islamic-led government from power in 1997 and orchestrated the crackdown on political Islam that led to the ban on Welfare the next year.

If Virtue is banned, it seems certain to split into a traditionalist and more modern wings that would seek to win mass support in the political center.

If, additionally, Virtue's deputies are expelled from parliament by the court, this would automatically trigger by-elections that could upset the balance of power in Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's left-right coalition.

Markets fear such a development could ultimately lead to general elections.

Most analysts, however, believe the court would stop short of such a radical move.

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