The decision of Turkey’s Supreme Court of Cassation not to recognise a Constitutional Court order to release a jailed MP – and to file a criminal complaint against members of the top court – has shaken the country’s politics.
While experts and the opposition have condemned the decision as a judicial coup attempt, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Devlet Bahceli, his far-right ally, have defended the Court of Cassation’s move.
Erdogan later softened his tone and claimed to be acting as a mediator between the two courts – but Bahceli has doubled down and called for the Constitutional Court’s closure.
“The Constitutional Court should be closed and be reconstructed,” he said on November 14, accusing it of siding with terrorist organisations.