Turkey: Ruling party to be tried for extreme Islamism.

This should be interesting to watch.

A case in Turkey's top court that threatens to shut down the ruling AK Party represents a showdown between elites over the role of Islam and could scupper vital reforms in the European Union candidate country.

The court agreed on Monday to hear a case brought by a chief prosecutor against the party and 71 of its officials, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, for allegedly aiming to establish an Islamic state.

The AK Party, created after its predecessor was banned in 2001, denies the charges, saying they are politically motivated.

The case has rekindled a decades-long dispute over the role of Islam in a country of 70 million that is officially secular but predominantly Muslim and has yet to reconcile the two sides.

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