Court ruling a victory or warning for AKP?

ANKARA, Turkey, July 31 (UPI) -- While the Turkish government hailed a Supreme Court ruling declining to outlaw the ruling AKP, others said the court warned the party to become more secular.

Only one judge on the 11-member court, Chairman Hasim Kilic, wanted to dismiss a suit against the AKP completely. Six wanted to ban the party, which is nominally secular but has roots in an Islamist party, and five found that the party had violated secular norms but not seriously enough to justify a ban.

"The AKP had been convicted for committing a crime against secularism by the 10 of the 11 members of the Constitutional Court," said Murat Yetkin, Ankara bureau chief for the left-of-center daily Radikal. "So that the AKP was not acquitted by the Constitutional Court."

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the government and his party will embrace all Turks, regardless of political views, Hurriyet reported. And Abdurrahman Kurt, one of the AKP leaders, said the ruling is a victory for Democracy in Turkey.

"From now on political parties will pay for their mistakes only at ballot boxes," he said.