Turkish party investigated

ANKARA, Turkey -- Talks have begun in Turkey's constitutional court on whether to disband a leading Islamic political party.

Virtue -- the third largest party in Parliament -- is charged on two counts of subversive anti-secular activism and continuing the work of the Welfare Party, banned for undermining Turkey's secular regime in 1998.

The case is the latest phase of a campaign against political Islam waged by the strictly secular Turkish establishment. The court's chief justice, Mustafa Bumin, told the Associated Press a ruling is not expected until next week.

Banning any or all of Virtue's 102 deputies on either charge will determine the future of the fragile Turkish coalition.

The move could inhibit the country's democratic reforms and trigger elections if more than 20 deputies of the 550-member Parliament are ousted.

The prospect of elections has unsettled financial markets which are already at crisis point.

It has also drawn criticism from the International Monetary Fund, who seek stability for the implementation of a multi-billion dollar financial crisis recovery programme.

The European Union, which is pushing Turkey for democratic reforms before it can join the group, has expressed concern.

The Virtue Party does not call for an Islamic state but a relaxation of secular laws, which for example, forbid women working in government offices or students from wearing Islamic-style head-scarves.

Last year the court accepted a videotape of the party's congress as evidence. Delegates there paid tribute to the leader of the banned pro-Islamic Welfare Party, Necmettin Erbakan.

Erbakan led the country in a centre-right coalition until June 1997 when he resigned under pressure from the military, which considers itself the guarantor of the secular system.