Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- "[The] European Convention for Human Rights is only valid for certain countries." [The identical religious-based party was supported by NATO in Bosnia, and any nation - Uzbekistan comes most immediately to mind - that attempts to rein in comparable forces is accused throughout Greater NATOland of gross human rights abuses; but with Turkey, being a key NATO member, the rules do not apply.] Tuesday July 31, 8:07 PM European rights court backs Turkey over Islamist party ban STRASBOURG, July 31 (AFP) - The European Court of Human Rights backed the Turkish government Tuesday, ruling that its decision to outlaw the Islamist Welfare Party did not violate human rights. It was a rare victory for Ankara, which has been condemned by the human rights court at least 11 times since 1998 for violations of freedoms of expressions. By a vote of four to three, the European judges ruled that the January 1998 ban on the Welfare or Refah party of former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan could reasonably be considered a response to a social problem with the aim of protecting Turkish democracy. The court said that Turkey had not violated article 11 of the European convention on human rights, covering freedom of assembly and association, as claimed by the party founders. Instead, it underscored that some of the values advocated by Welfare Party leaders, such as introducing Islamic law and legitimazing a holy war to achieve religious ends, were not compatible with the European rights convention. In Ankara, members of the defunct party immediately said they would appeal and described the ruling as unfair. "This is a double standard and a political decision," added Mehmet Bekaroglu, deputy leader of the newly-established pro-Islamic Saadet -- or Felicity -- Party. The ruling showed that the "European Convention of Human Rights is valid only for certain countries", Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying. The court ruled that the Welfare party had raised doubts about its position regarding the use of force to achieve and maintain power. Erbakan and two former Welfare deputy leaders had complained to the court that Turkey had violated the party's right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. But the court ruled that a political party whose officials insisted on resorting to violence and which did not respect democratic rights or aimed to destroy them, was not protected by the convention. The court also rejected their claim that their rights against discrimination, freedom of expression, protection of property and right to free elections had been violated. The Welfare party emerged as Turkey's most popular political party after parliamentary elections in 1995 and came to power as part of a conservative coalition in June the following year. But the military, Turkey's self-appointed guards of secularism, began pressuring Erbakan, the Islamist prime minister, who was finally forced to resign after a year in office. In January 1998, the country's constitutional court outlawed Welfare for "becoming the centre of activities against the principle of secularism" and its assets were handed over to the state treasury. Erbakan, 74, and his two deputies, plaintiffs Kazan and Ahmet Tekdal, were banned from parliament and from taking part in political activities for five years. The former prime minister was later banned from politics for life and sentenced to a year in jail, but he won a partial amnesty avoiding a prison term. Ankara argued it was justified in dissolving the party, saying Welfare was using democratic laws and freedoms to introduce Islamic law, or Sharia. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
