Iraqi president expresses support for Turkish govt

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

ATHENS (AFP) — Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Sunday expressed support for the Turkish government, which is threatened by secular and nationalist opponents.

In an interview with the Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia, Talabani said the power struggle between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and secularist forces, led by the army, is "worrying" for Iraq and a ban on the AKP would be "a step backwards."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP has been forced to defend itself in the Constitutional Court against charges that it had sought to undermine the secular system and should be banned.

The case is the latest episode in a bitter struggle between secularist forces and the AKP, which won a decisive re-election victory last year despite...