Turkey's Premier Calls for National Unity

(28 July 08 - RV) Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called for unity in Turkey today after 17 people were killed in two bombings in Istanbul and said a court case to close his ruling party was not currently a priority.

The Constitutional Court began deliberating this morning on whether to close the ruling AK
Party on charges of seeking to introduce Islamic rule in the predominantly Muslim, but officially secular state.

The case seeks to close the party and ban the Prime Minister, President and 69 major AK Party officials from party membership for five years.

The European Union and foreign investors are anxiously awaiting a verdict in the AK Party case which has drawn Turkey into a period of political uncertainty, hurting financial markets and slowing its reform process.

It has also deepened divisions between the Islamist-rooted government and an elite of military, judicial and academic officials who regard themselves as the custodians of the NATO
member's secular system.

While on the eve of the hearing, twin blasts ripped through Istanbul, further undermining national stability.

Charles Collins reports: