Ban on ruling AKP would be 'unfortunate', U.S. says

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States said last Thursday for the first time that a ban on Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, whose closure case on charges of anti-secularism is currently being considered by the Constitutional Court, would be "unfortunate."



But Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, continued on to elucidate that his disappointment with a ban would in no way compel Washington to issue "ultimata or threats" on this matter. The most Bryza said during an address to the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, a Turkish think tank, was that, "probably, [it would be] quite unfortunate if the way the political debate is resolved is through banning a party." He was delivering the annual "Turgut Ozal lecture," named after the late Turkish president who had worked for improved U.S.-Turkish relations.



"It's up to Turkey to work it out. It's not appropriate for the United States to set any ultimata or threats," Bryza said.



Although Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently been indirectly speaking out against the AKP's closure, Bryza's remark that an AKP closure would be unfortunate, steals the show as the strongest and the most explicit U.S. statement on the matter, to date, the Turkish Daily News reports.