By Baris Gulmez, Research Associate, U K Defence Forum and Turkey correspondent

Introduction

14 March 2008 was one of the most controversial days in Turkish political life. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), the governing party which received 47% of the total votes in the last general elections was indicted in the Court of Caussation, with prosecutors demanding that it be closed down.

The main allegation of the indictment is that the AKP has become the centre of the acts against secularism, one of the six founding principles of the Turkish Republic. The Constitutional Court's latest decision prohibiting the wearing of Islamic turban (headscarf, basortusu or hijab) in universities intensified the debate on the closure case. Currently, public opinion is divided.

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Transcript of Sir Christopher Hum's remarks to the Global Strategy Forum - 17th July 2007

Sir Christopher Hum KCMG joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1967. Some 18 years of his diplomatic career were spent working in or on China, culminating in almost four years as British Ambassador in Beijing (2002-2005). In January 2006, on retirement from the Diplomatic Service, Christopher Hum was elected Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

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