A top advisor to Turkey's constitutional court has recommended that the ruling AK party not be closed for anti-secular activities.

Osman Can's report is not binding but must be presented to judges at the court before any case can proceed.

In recent key rulings the court has not followed the advisor’s recommendations.

Turkey's chief prosecutor want the party to be closed on charges that it is seeking to introduce Islamic laws in Turkey.

The prosecution wants leading party members, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, banned from party politics for five years and the party closed down.

A verdict is expected by early August.

Political uncertainty

The constitutional court advisor draws on evidence submitted to the court to produce a non-binding report detailing legal arguments in the case.

Can recommended in March that the court should not take up the case but it ignored that advice.

"We are going to meet with our colleagues and have the necessary discussions and after that we are going to put it on the calendar [for hearing the case]," Hasim Kilic, the court chairman, said after receiving the report.

The party has rejected the charge that it is seeking to impose Islamic rule on the predominantly Muslim but officially secular country and points to its record in office as proof.

Turkey's financial markets have been unsettled by the case, which has caused months of political uncertainty and raised the prospect of an early parliamentary election if the AK party is closed.