ISTANBUL: Turkey’s top court yesterday narrowly decided against banning the ruling AK Party over accusations that it was steering the country toward Islamic rule, preserving a government locked in a power struggle with the secular elite.

The Constitutional Court, however, delivered a strong — though unspecified — warning to the party and said it would be deprived of half of its funding from the state treasury.

“The decision that came out was a warning to this party. It is a serious warning,” said Constitutional Court Chairman Hasim Kilic. “I hope that this outcome will be assessed and that the necessary measures will be taken.”

He said six of the 11 judges wanted to ban the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, a total of seven votes were needed to ban it under court regulations.

A ban would have severely damaged Turkey’s image as a democracy because the ruling party won a strong majority in elections last year. EU leaders have said the ruling party’s viability should be decided in elections, not courtrooms.

The court case was the latest battleground between the pious Muslims who run the government but embrace aspects of Western political and economic systems, and the secular establishment that draws support from the military and judiciary.

In announcing the court decision, Kilic said judges were uncomfortable handling the case and said it exposed the need for legal reforms that will elevate the quality of Turkish democracy.

“We are facing serious difficulties with regard to democracy when we deal with closure cases,” Kilic said.

“But unfortunately, legal and constitutional reforms necessary to meet standards of modern democracies have not been carried out.”

Kilic also appealed for Turkey’s political leaders to seek consensus and reduce tension.

Mustafa Ozyurek, deputy chairman of the main opposition party, said he respected the court’s decision but noted that a majority of the judges had effectively agreed that the ruling party was a focal point for anti-secular activities. If the ruling party “draws a lesson from this decision, then there will be no problem,” said Ozyurek of the Republican People’s Party. “But if it does not, then Turkey will be dragged into chaos once again.”

CNN-Turk television said the court had voted 10-1 to deprive the ruling party of state aid. The party stands to lose an estimated 22 million Turkish liras ($15 million) from the state treasury this year.

In March, Turkey’s chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court to disband Erdogan’s party and bar him and 70 other party members from joining a political party for five years.

President Abdullah Gul was also on the prosecutor’s list.

Prominent AK Party leaders have roots in political Islam, and the party itself is a successor to parties that were banned in the past. But those leaders now say they are not following an Islamic agenda, citing EU-backed reforms as proof.

“This party is definitely advocating a more moderate streak of thought than its predecessors,” said Ilter Turan, a political science professor at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.

Earlier, Turan said: “No matter what the decision is, this case shows that Turkey needs a restructuring of its laws and a constitutional reform.”

The judges began hearing the case on Monday, a day after two bomb explosions at a packed Istanbul square. It was the deadliest attack in Turkey in almost five years. Turkish officials blamed Kurdish rebels, who denied responsibility.

The timing of the attack on the eve of the Constitutional Court’s deliberations raised speculation over a link.