The prosecution is also seeking to ban Tayyip Erdogan, along with 70 others, from politics [AFP]

Representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) arrived at the Constitutional Court on Thursday at 0700 GMT to present their case.

Cemil Cicek, the deputy prime minister, and Bekir Bozdag, a senior politician from the AKP will deliver their arguments to judges in a closed session.

On Tuesday, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, the chief prosecutor, had argued before the 11-judge tribunal that the AKP should be banned for threatening one of the basic tenets of the republic.

Politically motivated

Yalcinkaya launched proceedings in March, accusing the AKP of gradually seeking to replace the secular system with Sharia [Islamic law].

He also asked the court to bar 71 AKP officials, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, and Abdullah Gul, the president, from party politics for five years, in line with Turkish law.

The AKP, the offshoot of a now-banned Islamic movement, rejects the charges and says the case is politically motivated.

The popular party was re-elected to office last year with 47 percent of the vote.

After Thursday's hearing, a court-appointed rapporteur will prepare a non-binding report on what verdict the judges should give.

The court will then set a date to debate the case behind closed doors and reach a decision.

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