Erdogan breaks silence as Turkey’s judicial crisis deepens

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday waded into a judicial crisis between the country’s two highest courts. 

He sided with the Supreme Court, which filed criminal charges against members of the Constitutional Court who had ordered the release of jailed Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) lawmaker Can Atalay.

"Unfortunately, the Constitutional Court has made many mistakes one after another, seriously saddening us,” Erdogan told journalists as he travelled back to Turkey from Uzbekistan. 

“The Constitutional Court cannot underestimate the step taken by the Supreme Court on this matter,” he added. 

Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison last year as a part of the Gezi Park trial of people accused of trying to overthrow the government during 2013 protests. Atalay ran in May’s parliamentary elections from jail and was elected. He then petitioned the Supreme Court to release him on the basis of the immunity he enjoys as a member of parliament. The court rejected Atalay’s petition.

Last month, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Supreme Court had violated Atalay’s rights and ordered his release.

The Constitutional Court ranks above the Supreme Court and its decisions must be abided by the lower courts.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Friday joined a protest organized by the Bar Associations Union in Ankara against the Supreme Court’s decision, which newly elected party leader Ozgur Ozel labeled an “attempted coup.”

Ozel told journalists at the protest that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is carrying out a “mutiny” against the constitution and accused Erdogan of leading “an insurgence… against the people’s will.”

The CHP and other opposition parties in the legislature also announced sit-in protests inside the parliament building.

The Supreme Court released a statement on Friday saying that the Constitutional Court “from time to time exceeds its constitutional and legal limits” by reversing the jurisprudence developed by experts of the Supreme Court and dragging the legal system into chaos.

On his return to Turkey, Erdogan said during a televised speech that he was not a party to the controversy but an “arbitrator,” and claimed the crisis was a sign the country needs a new constitution.