Virtue Party ( tr, Fazilet Partisi, FP) was an Islamist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

established on 17 December 1997 in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was found unconstitutional by the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

and then banned on 22 June 2001 for violating the secularist articles of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. After the party's ban, the party MPs founded two sections of parties: reformist Justice and Development Party (AKP), headed by

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

, and traditionalist

Felicity Party The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the C ...

(SP), headed by

Recai Kutan Mehmet Recai Kutan (born 1930) is a Turkish politician and the former leader of Felicity Party (SP). Biography Kutan graduated from ITU, Department of Civil Engineering in 1952. Until 1973, he worked as an engineer in various projects includi ...

History

Founders of the Virtue Party were also active members of the National Order Party (MNP),

National Salvation Party The National Salvation Party ( tr, Millî Selâmet Partisi, MSP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey, founded on 11 October 1972 as the successor of the banned National Order Party (''Millî Nizam Partisi'', MNP). The party was formed by a ...

(MSP) and

Welfare Party The Welfare Party ( tr, Refah Partisi, RP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal, and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, National Order Party (MNP) and Nationa ...

(RP).

Merve Kavakçı Merve is a feminine Turkish given name of Arabic origin. It has two meanings: # Pebble # One of the two sacred hills in Mecca, Saudi Arabia between which Muslims travel back and forth seven times as part of the ritual pilgrimages. Merve is mentioned ...

, the female elected as the MP who was banned from swearing her

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

Turkish Grand National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

because she wore a

headscarf A headscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is cov ...

, was a Virtue Party member. Former party chairman Mehmet Recai Kutan submitted a case on behalf of the party to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

, alleging infringement of Articles 10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of association) among others. In December 2005, Kutan told the court that he intended to withdraw the application, possibly influenced by the unfavourable result in '' Leyla Şahin v. Turkey'' (2004), and the court struck out the case.Dilek Kurban (2008)
Strasbourg Court Jurisprudence and Human Rights in Turkey: An Overview of Litigation, Implementation and Domestic Reform

TESEV The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation ( tr, Türkiye Ekonomik ve Sosyal Etüdler Vakfı, TESEV), based in Istanbul, is Turkey's leading think tank. The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) is an independent non-gover ...

, September 2008

Footnotes

References

* Defunct political parties in Turkey Defunct far-right parties in Turkey Banned Islamist parties in Turkey Political parties established in 1997 1997 establishments in Turkey Political parties disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in Turkey European Court of Human Rights cases involving Turkey {{Turkey-party-stub