The eleven-member delegation of the court convened at 9:30 a.m. Turkish local time.

During yesterday's 12-hour deliberations, the court rejected a request for recusation of four of its members on the ground of "non-jurisdiction of applier".

Osman Can, rapporteur of the case, also attends the deliberations to response to questions of the court delegation.

Chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya asked the Constitutional Court in March to outlaw Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party and ban him from politics for five years together with 70 other party members.

Under the Constitution, qualified majority of votes is required to disband a political party. Accordingly, at least 7 out of 11 members of the court need to vote in favor of the closure of the party.

The court can also rule to deprive the AK Party of financial assistance of the Treasury instead of its dissolution.

Security forces have taken tight security measures inside and around the court building.

aa