The AKP has clashed bitterly with secularists and in July 2008 narrowly avoided a Constitutional Court ban that would have also barred several key members -- including President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- from politics.
AKP se žestoko sukobila sa sekularistima i u julu 2008. godine jedva izbegla zabranu Ustavnog suda prema kojoj takođe nekoliko ključnih članova -- uključujući predsednika Abdulaha Gula i premijera Redžepa Tajipa Erdogana -- ne bi moglo da se bavi politikom.