Turkey Is Considering Ban on Kurdish Party

By SEBNEM ARSU

ISTANBUL — The Turkish constitutional court in Ankara began hearing arguments on Tuesday in a case that could shut down the only pro-Kurdish party in Parliament and undermine the government’s efforts to end its long-running conflict with the country’s Kurdish minority.

If convicted, 219 members of the Democratic Society Party, including 8 members of Parliament, would face a five-year ban on political activity. Their party would become the latest in a series of Kurdish parties that have been closed down by the court since the 1990s. A verdict is not expected until Friday.

The charges, filed in 2007, accuse the party of undermining national stability by encouraging violence and of cooperating with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey’s southeast for decades.

The conflict has cost more than 40,000 lives, and the P.K.K. has been labeled a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, but the Democratic Society Party refuses to denounce the group.

With an eye to membership in the European Union, the governing Justice and Development Party has worked to normalize relations with the Kurds. Its proposals include unrestricted use of the Kurdish language in the media and in political campaigns and the restoration of Kurdish names to towns in the eastern Kurdish districts of the country. But the Democratic Society Party wants constitutional recognition of Kurds’ ethnic identity and amnesty for most P.K.K. members who want to return to Turkey.

Mithat Sancar, a law professor at Ankara University, said a decision to close down the Democratic Society Party “would only strengthen the hands of those within the P.K.K. who promote violent methods.” He added, “How can we persuade them to come down from the mountains to participate in politics if we close down political channels?”

When unidentified militants killed seven soldiers and wounded three on the outskirts of Tokat, a northern town, on Monday. suspicions were cast on the P.K.K.. But no group has claimed responsibility yet, and the government has made no accusations.

Ahmet Turk, chairman of the Democratic Society Party, condemned the assailants on Tuesday and called the attack an attempt to stir up anti-Kurdish sentiments.