Turkey's Constitutional Court will hear a case to shut down the country's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) on December 8th, the court said on Thursday.

The case, based on allegations of DTP links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), comes as Turkey says it is planning to improve the cultural rights of its 12 million Kurds, hoping to better its chances of European Union membership.

The Kurdish population, whose language was outlawed for years, have long complained of discrimination.
The separatist guerrilla PKK has fought for 25 years in a bloody conflict for a Kurdish ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. About 40,000 people have died in the violence.

All but one of the DTP's pro-Kurdish predecessors has been banned after court cases. The Peace and Democracy Party still operates but has little power and no members of parliament.

The EU has criticised the lawsuit against the DTP, warning Turkey that banning the party would violate Kurdish rights.

The government's planned pro-Kurdish reforms include the creation of an independent body to investigate cases of torture by security forces in the southeast as well as further loosen restrictions on Kurdish language.

These are largely seen as measures to gain votes following losses for the ruling AK Party in the predominantly Kurdish southeast in this year polls.

Major raids on the pro-Kurdish party's offices earlier this year led to the detentions of more than 100 party members.

(REUTERS)