Kurdistan Observer

The head of Turkey's only legal Kurdish party says a top court will put off a ruling on whether to ban the group to ensure free and fair elections likely to be held in November.

"Shutting down a party in the middle of an election period would overshadow the whole process," Murat Bozlak, chairman of the People's Democracy Party, or HADEP, told Reuters.

"The Constitutional Court must agree to postpone a decision in our case until after elections to avoid the possibility of injustice."

The court is weighing charges that HADEP acts as a front for the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), blamed by Ankara for the deaths of more than 30,000 people in its 17-year-long fight for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.

The case nears a verdict as Turkey gears up for snap polls.

Parliament began debate on Monday on holding elections in November after the fragile three-party coalition was frayed by sensitive human rights reforms, including greater cultural rights for Kurds, needed to fulfil European Union criteria.

A ban on HADEP would damage efforts to begin entry talks with the EU, which has called on Turkey to drop the case.

Turkey bars political parties from setting up along ethnic or religious lines and has shut down more than 20 parties since the 1960s. In a drive to meet some EU standards, Turkey amended its constitution last year to limit the grounds for closure.

"Our case is the first test of the constitutional amendment that has made party closures extremely difficult," Bozlak said in the Friday interview.

"Regardless of elections, we don't expect the (court) to ban us.

THOUGHT BAN?

If HADEP is banned, members will still push for wider rights for the country's 12 million Kurds, said Bozlak, who faces up to 22 years in prison on charges related to the closure case.

"Why are we closing parties that have millions of people behind them? This amounts to banning the thoughts of millions."

HADEP won less than the 10 percent of the vote needed to enter parliament in 1999, despite drawing as much as 70 percent of votes in parts of the predominantly Kurdish southeast and clinching several mayoral offices there.

It appears set to fare better in the coming polls, and Bozlak said his leftist party hasn't ruled out aligning with another party to clear the vote threshold.

HADEP's ascendancy has also roused fear in some circles.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has repeatedly warned HADEP is a "separatist" group that threatens stability.

"HADEP has been set up according to the law and is as legal as the prime minister's party," Bozlak said.

The powerful military, which sometimes lends a "guiding hand" in Turkey's often fractious politics, has also expressed worry over HADEP's popularity in the southeast.

But with fighting between the PKK and Turkish soldiers all but over, Bozlak said he has seen curbs relaxed in the southeast, allowing HADEP to campaign in towns and cities where they weren't allowed to organise in previous elections.

Ankara has said it will lift emergency rule in two southeastern provinces by the end of the month and renew it for a last four months in two other provinces.

Parliament could debate the EU reforms, including changes to restrictions on the Kurdish language, this week after voting on snap polls.

"It's a major step. The language issue is even on the agenda ...Compared to yesterday there are amazing changes in Turkey, and we think it's going to continue getting better," he said.