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Turkey's Banned Islamic
Party to Start New Groups
ISTANBUL, June 23 (News Agencies) - Supporters of Turkey's banned pro-Islamic Virtue Party look set to find other venues to push their political agenda with new parties already in embryonic stages, political commentators said Saturday.
"It is certain that the modernizers are going to establish a new group... they chose a different path (from the conservatives) a long time ago," Rusen Cakir, a specialist in Islamic politics in Turkey said of the different factions in the banned party.
Turkey's constitutional court outlawed the pro-Islamic party for anti-secular activities on Friday, but expelled only two of its 102 deputies from parliament in a move appeared aimed at avoiding political turmoil.
One of the leaders of the movement, Abdullah Gul, said on Friday that everything was ready for the formation of a new party, which he said would make itself known in the near future.
A possible leader for the new party has emerged as Tayyip Erdogan, a former mayor of Istanbul, according to local press reports, which say that the Virtue party's former leader Necmettin Erbakan is planning the formation of another party.
"One, two, even three parties will soon be created," the centre-right newspaper Milliyet predicted, adding "and in two years we will be at the same point: waiting for a verdict from the Constitutional Court."
"The risk of a new ban will remain if the Virtue Party's successor continues to advocate wearing veils," echoed another newspaper, Zaman.
The Turkish press has dubbed the new party expected to be unveiled by Erdogan as the Party of the Virtuous and that of Erbakan as the Party of Happiness.
Erbakan, who was briefly prime minister between 1996 and 1997, is suspected of leading the Virtue Party from the sidelines after his previous party -- the Prosperity Party -- was closed down and he was banned from politics.
Friday's decision by Turkey's highest court was a sign of the most perverse aspects, which threaten the country's stability, commentator Ali Bayramoglu said in Sabah.
These, he said, included banned politicians finding refuge in the margins of political activism, the mobility of parliamentary seats between different parties, with each new pro-Islamic party being more conservative than its predecessor.
Financial markets had already closed on Friday when the Court's verdict was announced, but analysts say they are expecting an unstable market after a tense week overshadowed by the fear of expected elections.
"The tendency will remain nervous next week... there are a lot of problems on the horizon," financial management expert Tayfun Oral told AFP.
But Friday's decision avoided the possibility of much-feared by-elections, which would have become necessary if 20 or more MPs had lost their seats.
The verdict is expected to relieve the embattled government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, which feared that polls could disrupt an IMF-backed programof tough economic reforms.
However, the ruling is likely to tarnish Turkey's image at a time when the country has to carry out far-reaching democratic reforms to promote its candidacy for European Union membership.
While the Turkish daily newspaper Radikal described the ban with the headline "Wounded Democracy," the US State Department said, "we regret the closure of this party because it is contrary to accepted international norms of democracy."
"This will undoubtedly create problems for Turkey in international meetings, particularly with Europe," said Ilnur Cevik in the Turkish Daily News.
Commentators say they expect many deputies from the banned Virtue Party to join the Party of Nationalist Action, part of the country's ruling coalition.
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