Prosecutor urges aid suspension

Ankara - A Turkish prosecutor yesterday urged the constitutional court to suspend planned government aid to an Islamist party…

Ankara - A Turkish prosecutor yesterday urged the constitutional court to suspend planned government aid to an Islamist party which is on trial and faces being banned, the Anatolia news agency said.

Under Turkish law, the government each year extends financial aid to all political parties represented in parliament according to their strength. In this year's budget, 1.23 trillion lira (nearly $6.1 million) were earmarked for the pro-Islamic Welfare Party of the former prime minister, Mr Necmettin Erbakan.

But in an appeal to the constitutional court, Turkey's highest judicial body, the state prosecutor, Mr Vural Savas, demanded that the aid be suspended as the party was facing a possible ban.