Baykal: "Our judiciary must solve the closure case issue"

Speaking to his party's group meeting yesterday, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said if there has been a violation of the Constitution, the responsibility for solving that issue belongs to the judiciary, not politicians. "One of society's defense mechanisms is the judiciary," he said. "If politicians attempt to interfere with a legal process through constitutional changes to make closing political parties more difficult, this means there is no need for any measures to protect the Constitution's principle of secularism," he added, referring to the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) drive to change the Constitution in the midst of a case seeking to close it. The AKP is looking in the wrong place for a solution to save itself from the threat of closure, Baykal said. In related news, opposition National Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday accused the AKP of trying to manipulate public opinion through fear-mongering and added, "The solution to the recent political crisis from the AKP closure case can only be found in Parliament." Bahceli also warned the government that proposing changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) in the midst of the closure case crisis would harm both Turkey and the AKP. Bahceli also criticized efforts to link his party to recent incidents of political violence at Akdeniz University, saying that MHP members and sympathizers wouldn't let themselves be manipulated by "malicious circles" but would instead express their views democratically.