The Democratic Society Party (DTP) "has no organic links" with the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 24-year armed campaign for self-rule, Ahmet Turk told reporters after a hearing at the Constitutional Court.

"The closure of a party which has won the support of two million people would lead to disappointment" in the restive Kurdish-majority concentrated in southeast Turkey, he warned.

Turk spoke after the DTP presented its final defence at the Constitutional Court in a case that opened in November.

Turkey's chief prosecutor wants the DTP outlawed on grounds it has become a "focal point" of activities against national unity through its links with the PKK, which Ankara and much of the international community classify as a terrorist group.

The court will now appoint a rapporteur to pen a non-binding recommended ruling. It will then set a date to debate the case behind closed doors before reaching a verdict.

The DTP, which holds 21 seats in the 550-member parliament, has always denied links to the PKK, but has refused to brand it a terrorist organisation and its members often express sympathy for the rebels.

Turkey has in the past banned several Kurdish parties for links with the militants.

In July, the ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party narrowly escaped closure on charges of undermining Turkey's secular system, as Constitutional Court judges decided on financial sanctions instead.