Closed door hearings continue in case against Turkish government

Ankara: Turkey's deputy prime minister defended the ruling party in the country's top court on Thursday against charges that it is steering the country toward Islamic rule.

The chief prosecutor is demanding the Islamic-rooted party be disbanded for anti-secular activity and that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and 70 other party members be barred from joining a political party for five years.

The court will deliver a verdict in the coming months. Some observers say a decision to disband the party could throw the country into political and economic instability.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, a former lawyer, and another party official were delivering arguments in the party's defence during Thursday's closed-door hearing at the Constitutional Court.

The court case comes as the Turkish government detain various members of a shadowy ultra-nationalist group that is suspected of plotting a coup against the government.

Both the case and the arrests have raised tensions in the country.