TURKEY has entered an ominous new phase in a power struggle between a moderately Islamist governing party and the military, judicial, and educational elites who jealously guard the principles of a secular state. Turkey's Constitutional Court inserted itself into this conflict late last month, when it agreed to hear a case filed by the chief public prosecutor against the Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish acronym, AK.
There is nothing subtle about the charge or the punishment requested. AK, which won 47 percent of the votes and a majority of seats in parliamentary elections last July, stands accused of being a "hub of anti-secular activities." The 11 judges are asked to outlaw the party and to ban 71 of its members from political actitivity for five years, including 38 members of Parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and President Abdullah Gul.
A high court decision to nullify the popular will by dissolving a legitimately elected party would cast a pall over Turkish democracy and make it harder than it already is for Turkey to gain membership in the European Union. Foreign investors, who have been impressed by the free-market reforms of the Erdogan government, are likely to be spooked by tremors of political instability.
Turkey's national interest lies in gradualism, compromise, and the preservation of recent democratic advances. The governing Islamists should not be provoking the secularist establishment by banning alcohol in some municipalities and segregating men from women in public parks. The shadowy "deep state" of army and security officers should not seek to preserve secular values by thwarting the will of the electorate.
The high court judges can best uphold democracy if they caution Erdogan and his colleagues to respect secularism - but refrain from dissolving a party that has a popular mandate to govern.
