Report: Turkey to tighten squeeze on Islamic businesses

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's civilian and military leaders have agreed on new measures to tighten controls over Islamic businesses in a campaign to curb political Islam, a Turkish newspaper reported Saturday.

The National Security Council -- made up of top generals and political leaders -- decided in a meeting Friday to amend laws to allow a government inspection board to scrutinize companies partly owned by municipalities run by an Islamic party, Hurriyet reported.

The Security Council also agreed to closely watch the activities of 33 Islamic-oriented companies and to appoint special prosecutors in five provinces to check Islamic-oriented publications, the paper said. Prosecutors can order publications banned or confiscated if they deem that they violate anti-sedition laws.

Most Security Council decisions are kept secret and officials would not comment on the report.

But the military has repeatedly called political Islam one of the greatest threats to the officially secular nation and has long been pushing the government to take steps to curb the rise of Islam, including the strict enforcement of a ban on Islamic-style head scarves at universities and the closure of some religious schools.

Hurriyet newspaper said the 33 companies the military wants scrutinized includes Kombassan Holding, the largest of the Islamic businesses, which exports a wide range of products including paper, tires and farm machinery, to 54 countries.

The military believes Islamic-leaning businesses are financing Islamic activism in Turkey.

The Islamic-oriented companies have a market value estimated at several billion dollars. Most founders are religious and for example provide prayer rooms for employees. They deny financing Islamic activism.

Abdullah Gul, an Islamic party official, on Saturday criticized the decisions, urging the government instead to concentrate efforts on pushing a reform package through parliament to end the country's economic crisis which has led to a depreciation of the lira and thousands of layoffs.

"This is what the people are waiting for," Gul said.

Gul's Virtue Party, the third largest in parliament, is charged with anti-secular activity and with being a replacement of another, now-banned Islamist party and faces closure by the Constitutional Court.

The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, wants Turkey to curb influence of the Security Council which in effect dictates policy on a wide range of issues, including defense and education.