Court’s AK Party ruling marks a new era in Turkey

Bugün's Mehmet Metiner terms the Constitutional Court ruling a "middle path formula" that will eliminate social polarization and make it possible for Turkey to exit the tunnel. "With this ruling, the court showed a new understanding of consensus by both showing secular circles that it shares their concerns about secularism while also noting that it does not disregard the sensitivities of domestic and international circles which hold that party closures are not acceptable in democracies," Metiner remarks. "This ruling marks a turning point in Turkey."

Hürriyet's Oktay Ekşi interprets the court ruling as confirmation that the party is a focal point of anti-secular activity, on the grounds that six court members voted for its closure and five demanded financial penalties. Regarding this, he criticizes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said after the court ruling that his party has never taken a stance against secularism and would continue to defend the value. "Mr. Erdoğan may talk about opening a new page at the moment. He can even talk about making some cosmetic changes, but this will not last long. In a few months, everything will return to the point where it started six years ago," Ekşi says.

Another Bugün columnist, Gülay Göktürk, thinks the most critical thing from now on is how the AK Party interprets the decision. "If it reads it as a conditional forgiveness, it will inevitably become confused and act hesitantly when using this 'last chance,' fearing that it will not be forgiven again,'" she opines. According to Göktürk, the party must understand that what saved it from closure was not the forgiveness of the state, but its own power. "The only thing that will strengthen the AK Party's power is to pursue courageous policies," Göktürk says.