Necmettin Erbakan

The nation's top prosecutor sought Wednesday to outlaw the ruling Islamic party in the most direct shot yet against beleaguered Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. Prosecutor Vural Savas said he filed a case with the Constitutional Court to outlaw Erbakan's Welfare Party on the grounds that it endangers the basic tenets of the secularist Turkish state. Erbakan has upset the secularist elite, led by the army, with plans for limited Islamic reforms.

James McClure Longtime U.S. senator from Idaho Former U.S. Sen. James McClure, 86, a conservative Republican who spent 24 years in Congress representing Idaho and while chairman of the Energy Committee fought to keep Idaho's wilderness areas controlled by the state, died Saturday at his home in Garden City, Idaho. The cause was complications from a series of strokes, his family said. McClure was elected to the House of Representatives in 1966 and served six years before being elected to the Senate in 1972.

A Turkish court on Friday convicted Necmettin Erbakan, a former prime minister and Islamist leader, of "provoking hatred" in a 1994 speech and sentenced him to a year in jail. The Diyarbakir State Security Court verdict further dimmed Erbakan's chances of returning to active parliamentary politics and sparked criticism from the main opposition Islamic party.

The highest appeals court in Turkey upheld on Wednesday a one-year prison sentence imposed on former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, founder of the nation's Islamist political party, for "provoking racial hatred" in a speech six years ago. The ruling was a setback for Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, an adversary of political Islam who nonetheless wants to overcome Western criticism of Turkey's human rights record and speed the nation's path toward European Union membership.

Despite the 30 years he has spent in public life, Necmettin Erbakan has proven to be less than a polished politician since he became Turkey's prime minister a little more than three months ago. The head of an Islamist party in a largely secular land, Erbakan has determinedly set out to improve Turkey's relations with some of its most controversial Muslim neighbors.

As more than 10,000 supporters wildly cheered him on, Turkey's most popular Islamist politician vowed to fight for his career Thursday, a day after an appeals court upheld a 10-month jail sentence against him for inciting religious hatred. Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appearing outside Istanbul City Hall, said his conviction was an attempt to weaken Turkey's resurgent Islamist movement in the run-up to parliamentary elections in April.

The beleaguered Islamist movement in Turkey came under further pressure Monday as this capital's chief prosecutor, Nuh Mete Yuksel, sought the closure of the pro-Islamic Virtue Party, saying it is seeking to overturn the country's secular constitution and to introduce Islamic rule. The move to ban Virtue is in line with a sustained military-led campaign to crush political Islam, which remains the nation's most vibrant and popular movement.

Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan resigned Wednesday, capitulating to military leaders who had accused his Islamist-led government of pushing Turkey toward fundamentalism and who had threatened to oust him by force. But the outcome of the military's struggle against political Islam in this NATO-member nation was far from clear, as Erbakan clung to hope of keeping his 11-month-old coalition government in power under the leadership of a secularist ally.

Turkey's highest court dissolved the Islamic-oriented Welfare Party on Friday and banned six of its leaders from politics, accusing them of undermining the country's long tradition of secular rule during a stormy year in government. The decision was a new triumph for the army-led secularist elite that forced Necmettin Erbakan, the Welfare Party leader, to resign as prime minister in June.

The highest appeals court in Turkey upheld on Wednesday a one-year prison sentence imposed on former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, founder of the nation's Islamist political party, for "provoking racial hatred" in a speech six years ago. The ruling was a setback for Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, an adversary of political Islam who nonetheless wants to overcome Western criticism of Turkey's human rights record and speed the nation's path toward European Union membership.

A Turkish court on Friday convicted Necmettin Erbakan, a former prime minister and Islamist leader, of "provoking hatred" in a 1994 speech and sentenced him to a year in jail. The Diyarbakir State Security Court verdict further dimmed Erbakan's chances of returning to active parliamentary politics and sparked criticism from the main opposition Islamic party.

The beleaguered Islamist movement in Turkey came under further pressure Monday as this capital's chief prosecutor, Nuh Mete Yuksel, sought the closure of the pro-Islamic Virtue Party, saying it is seeking to overturn the country's secular constitution and to introduce Islamic rule. The move to ban Virtue is in line with a sustained military-led campaign to crush political Islam, which remains the nation's most vibrant and popular movement.

As more than 10,000 supporters wildly cheered him on, Turkey's most popular Islamist politician vowed to fight for his career Thursday, a day after an appeals court upheld a 10-month jail sentence against him for inciting religious hatred. Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appearing outside Istanbul City Hall, said his conviction was an attempt to weaken Turkey's resurgent Islamist movement in the run-up to parliamentary elections in April.

Turkey's highest court dissolved the Islamic-oriented Welfare Party on Friday and banned six of its leaders from politics, accusing them of undermining the country's long tradition of secular rule during a stormy year in government. The decision was a new triumph for the army-led secularist elite that forced Necmettin Erbakan, the Welfare Party leader, to resign as prime minister in June.

Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan resigned Wednesday, capitulating to military leaders who had accused his Islamist-led government of pushing Turkey toward fundamentalism and who had threatened to oust him by force. But the outcome of the military's struggle against political Islam in this NATO-member nation was far from clear, as Erbakan clung to hope of keeping his 11-month-old coalition government in power under the leadership of a secularist ally.

The nation's top prosecutor sought Wednesday to outlaw the ruling Islamic party in the most direct shot yet against beleaguered Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. Prosecutor Vural Savas said he filed a case with the Constitutional Court to outlaw Erbakan's Welfare Party on the grounds that it endangers the basic tenets of the secularist Turkish state. Erbakan has upset the secularist elite, led by the army, with plans for limited Islamic reforms.

Turkey's 73-year-old secular republic is taking a step into the unknown with new Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party and one of the country's most resilient public figures. Just a few years ago, his rivals would laugh mockingly at Erbakan's colorful turns of phrase and speeches about the value of Islam. But since parliament voted confidence in his government Monday, the smiles have belonged to the 69-year-old Erbakan.

James McClure Longtime U.S. senator from Idaho Former U.S. Sen. James McClure, 86, a conservative Republican who spent 24 years in Congress representing Idaho and while chairman of the Energy Committee fought to keep Idaho's wilderness areas controlled by the state, died Saturday at his home in Garden City, Idaho. The cause was complications from a series of strokes, his family said. McClure was elected to the House of Representatives in 1966 and served six years before being elected to the Senate in 1972.

Despite the 30 years he has spent in public life, Necmettin Erbakan has proven to be less than a polished politician since he became Turkey's prime minister a little more than three months ago. The head of an Islamist party in a largely secular land, Erbakan has determinedly set out to improve Turkey's relations with some of its most controversial Muslim neighbors.

Turkey's 73-year-old secular republic is taking a step into the unknown with new Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party and one of the country's most resilient public figures. Just a few years ago, his rivals would laugh mockingly at Erbakan's colorful turns of phrase and speeches about the value of Islam. But since parliament voted confidence in his government Monday, the smiles have belonged to the 69-year-old Erbakan.