Formed last year, the AKP has drawn many former members of the Virtue party, which the constitutional court banned in June 2001 for ''activities contrary to the principle of the secular republic." Turkey has outlawed a number of other Islamist parties over the past decade.
Osnovana prošle godine, AKP je privukla u svoje redove mnoge bivše članove Partije vrline, koju je Ustavni sud zabranio u junu 2001. godine, zbog "aktivnosti suprotnih principima sekularne republike." Turska je u protekloj deceniji van zakona stavila još nekoliko drugih islamističkih partija.