Dec. 13, 2007 MHP calls for solution in headscarf deadlock
April 27, 2007 Gov't fires back at General Staff e-memorandum The General Staff released an "e-memorandum" on its Web site, warning the government about approaching presidential elections. The memorandum said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) was a party of presidential disputes and a dauntless defender of secularism. ThenParliament spokesman Cemil Çiçek held a press conference the next day, slamming the General Staff for its memorandum. He stressed the TSK was an institution at the command of the government.
Cemil Çiçek
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli called on the government to solve the deep-rooted headscarf problem, which prevented covered women from entering the public sphere. He said: "The MHP is not content with the scarf ban. We may lift it, by clearly defining what the public sphere is."
Oct. 21, 2007 Turkey set to hold referendum on presidential election system
Aug. 28, 2007 Gül elected 11th president
The Constitutional Court ruled that a referendum be held on whether the president should be elected by popular vote instead of by Parliament. The nation voted in favor of electing future presidents by popular vote. It also approved the election of president for a five-year term instead of seven,, with a chance to be re-elected. It also reduced the tenure of parliament to four years instead of five, and altered the quorum in Parliament from 367 to 184.
Gül received the support of 339 deputies in presidential elections and was elected the 11th president of the Republic of Turkey. Other presidential hopefuls Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu and Tayfun İçli received the support of 70 deputies and 13 deputies, respectively.
Jan. 14, 2008 Erdoğan gives positive reply to Bahçeli's call Erdoğan said, in a press conference held in Spain, that the ban on the headscarf ban should be removed even if the scarf is a political symbol. Having returned to Turkey, he said he will cooperate with the MHP to solve the scarf problem.
Devlet Bahçeli
Feb 9. 24, 2008 411 hands up for freedom of education Parliament passed the said constitutional amendments, with 411 deputies voting in favor of lifting the headscarf ban at universities.
14
Önder Sav
15
9
8 March 13, 2007 Baykal readies for Republican rallies
Osman Can
Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal met with Atatürkist Thought Association (ADD) head retired Gen. Şener Eruygur. Eruygur promised to extend Baykal the necessary aid to hold so-called republican rallies in which the AK Party would be accused of preparing for destroying the secular order in the country.
March 28, 2008 Rapporteur advises court reject indictment Court rapporteur Osman Can advised the top court to reject an indictment presented to court for the closure of the governing party. The court, however, announced that it would take up the case.
Dissidence within a coalition government made up of the Democratic Society Party (DSP), the Motherland Party (then-ANAP, now ANAVATAN) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) resulted in the calling of early parliamentary elections. The AK Party ran in the elections, but without the leadership of Erdoğan, who was banned from political party participation at the time. The party garnered around 34 percent of votes and sent 363 deputies to Parliament. A government founded by Gül received a vote of confidence on Nov. 28.
24
25
Erdoğan met with Gen. Başbuğ at the prime minister's official residence, and a written statement released by the Prime Ministry Press Center said the two discussed measures to be taken against terrorist activities in the days ahead and recent developments in the country. However, the meeting gave rise to much speculation, with many alleging that the meeting made definite Başbuğ's nomination as the new chief of general staff and others claiming that the prime minister requested that the military refrain from interference in political and civilian life.
July 1, 2008 Prosecutor hails May 27 coup
26
Yalçınkaya gave an oral argument on the AK Party case and hailed a military takeover on May 27, 1960. He accused then Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was hung in the aftermath of that coup, of "dictatorship."
27
July 3, 2008 AK Party gives oral defense
Eruygur held the first of what would be a string of republican rallies, in Ankara. The main objective of these rallies was to prevent a candidate from the AK Party from being elected president. The rallies were supported by former İstanbul University Deputy Rector Nur Serter, DSP Chairman Zeki Sezer and Free Party (HP) Chairman Yaşar Okuyan.
The AK Party's oral defense, delivered by deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and AK Party parliamentary group Deputy Chairman Bekir Bozdağ, took over six hours. The two stressed that the court verdict on the AK Party case would be the cornerstone of Turkish democracy.
2
28
July 1, 2008 Retired generals detained
Şükrü Elekdağ
May 13, 2008 Çömez meets with Paksüt, Baykal Turhan Çömez, previously expelled from the AK Party, currently wanted on charges of being a member of an illegal organization met with the top court's deputy chairman, Osman Paksüt, and CHP's Baykal. The meeting raised suspicions as to suspected ties between the three.
June 5, 2008 Top court annuls scarf amendments The Constitutional Court annulled the constitutional amendments that would pave the path for freedom for covered students at universities in a 9-2 vote. The ruling dealt a serious blow to the right to education for headscarf-wearing students.
July 1, 2008 Top court rejects closure case against HAK-PAR The Constitutional Court rejected a request by a Supreme Court of Appeals prosecutor to close down the Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR). The court said political parties offering different solutions to the country's problems was a natural result of the duty they undertook in democratic political life.
A total of 20 people, including retired officers Gen. Şener Eruygur and Gen. Hurşit Tolon, Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygün and writer Erol Mütercimler, were taken into custody as part of an ongoing operation against an alleged deep state crime gang known as Ergenekon. The gang is believed to have been preparing for an overthrow of the government.
29
July 16, 2008 Rapporteur advises court not to disband AK Party Constitutional Court rapporteur Can recommended the court not disband the ruling AK Party, denying claims that the party's agenda and program were antisecular. "The AK Party has not become a focal point of anti-secular activities as defined in Article 68 of the Constitution. It has not violated the relevant articles of the Law on Political Parties which require the closure of a political party," his report read.
1
Recai Kutan
June 24, 2008 Erdoğan receives Başbuğ
A secret meeting between Paksüt and Land Forces Commander Gen. İlker Başbuğ at a politically critical time for Turkey raised suspicions about the influence of the Turkish military on the court's rulings. Paksüt later made a statement about the meeting and claimed he did not discuss politics with Başbuğ.
April 14, 2007 Republican rallies kick off
3
23
Yalçınkaya presented his response to the AK Party's preliminary defense on a closure case filed against the party, and said a political party may be shut down even if had not committed any crime. "Party closure is not a punishment. The headscarf is a political symbol and it cannot be defended on the grounds that it is a human right," he said.
May 13, 2008 Paksüt meets with Başbuğ
Erdoğan announced in an AK Party parliamentary group meeting that Gül would run as their candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.
4
Nov. 3, 2002 AK Party sweeps to power
May 30, 2008 Party can be closed even if it did not commit crime
Osman Paksüt
April 24, 2007 Gül runs for presidency 5
Deniz Baykal
22
The Constitutional Court, Turkey's highest judicial body, undersigned a highly controversial decision ruling that the parliamentary quorum necessary to hold a presidential election was 367. Three days later, Parliament opted to hold elections early.
6
Turhan Çömez
21
Officials from the AK Party and the MHP reached a compromise to make necessary amendments of the Constitution to lift a ban on the wearing of Islamic headscarf on university campuses.
Osman Paksüt
20
May 1, 2007 367 quorum shocks nation
7
CHP İstanbul deputy Şükrü Elekdağ stated in a parliamentary group meeting that Yalçınkaya's indictment was took weak to disband a political party. Elekdağ's remarks were met with harsh reaction from other party officials.
The AK Party presented a 98-page preliminary defense to the Constitutional Court in which it stressed that the party was not a focal point of anti-secular activities. "In democracies, critics against the ruling party can be directed by political parties, the media, intellectuals; not by judicial bodies," read the AK Party's defense.
17
19
Jan. 24, 2008 10 AK Party, MHP reach compromise on constitutional amendments
April 4, 2008 CHP's Elekdağ: Indictment too weak to shut down a party
April 30, 2008 AK Party submits preliminary defense
12
The AK Party swept 47 percent of votes in parliamentary elections and sent 340 deputies to Parliament. The CHP, in an alliance with the DSP, received 20 percent of votes and the MHP received 14 percent. The 60th government founded by Erdoğan received a vote of confidence on Sept. 5.
Erdoğan was convicted of "provoking hatred" and encouraging Islamist extremism in 1998 and banned from politics. Relevant constitutional amendments were carried out after the AK Party was swept to power in 2002, and Erdoğan was eligible to run in parliamentary elections held in March 2003. He was then elected prime minister and founded the 59th government.
16
Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya asked the Constitutional Court to close the governing AK Party on the grounds that it has become a focal point of "anti-secular activities." He also called for a ban on 71 of its current and former high-level officials, including Prime Minister Erdoğan and President Gül, from belonging to a political party for five years. Yalçınkaya, in an interview with daily Referans, said he would not have opened a closure case against the ruling party if it had not moved to eliminate the headscarf ban.
Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya
18
11
March 15, 2003 Ban removed, Erdoğan elected prime minister
The CHP, along with the DSP, appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul constitutional amendments paving the path for removal of the scarf ban at university campuses.
13
July 22, 2007 AK Party wins nearly half the vote
17: March 14, 2008 AK Party faces closure case
Feb. 27, 2008 CHP appeals to top court to annul headscarf amendments
30
Haşim Kılıç Osman Can
Necmettin Erbakan
Top court rules against closing AK Party
Aug. 14, 2001 AK Party is founded
The Feb. 28 process -- the so-called post-modern coup of 1997 -- divided the Milli Görüş (National View) line initiated by former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan into two: traditionalists and reformists. Abdullah Gül, the current president, was one of the prominent figures of reformists, who garnered a total of 521 out of 1,195 votes in a congress held in August 2000 by the nowdefunct Virtue Party (FP). The disbandment of the FP in 2001 on the grounds of being a hotbed of anti-secular activities paved the path for the establishment of a new party, the AK Party. The AK Party was founded under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 14, 2001.
The Constitutional Court ruled against closing the AK Party but ruled to impose a financial penalty. Chief Justice Haşim Kılıç was the only member who voted against both closure and a cut in Treasury funding. The judges who voted for closure include Osman Paksüt, Fulya Kantarcıoğlu, Mehmet Erten, Necmi Özder, Şevket Apalak and Zehra Ayla Perktaş. The
Abdullah Gül
judges who voted against closure but called for financial sanctions were Sacit Adalı, Ahmet Akyalçın, Serdar Özgüldür and Serruh Kaleli. The verdict was set to ease months of political uncertainty, which has battered Turkey's financial markets on fears that the democratically elected party would be closed down.
July 22, 2007 election results
Bülent Arınç
November 3, 2002 election results Salih Kapusuz
Mehmet Ali Şahin
Tayyip Erdoğan
2002 map of general elections
Infographic by: Yunus Emre Hatunoğlu Compiled by: Mehmet Özdemir
2007 map of general elections