Erdogan rivals call Turkey 'banana republic' as high court rulings ignored

Amberin Zaman

Jan 4, 2024

Erkan Bas (L), leader of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP), and fellow party MPs Sera Kadigil (C) and Ahmet Sik (R) display a portrait of jailed TIP MP Can Atalay, during a swearing-in ceremony at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, June 2, 2023. — ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

This is an excerpt from the Turkey Briefing, Al-Monitor's weekly newsletter covering Turkey's top political, security and business stories this week. To get the Turkey Briefing in your inbox, sign up here.

Turkey kicked off the New Year with a full-blown judicial crisis centered on the case of Can Atalay, a human rights lawyer who was elected to parliament last year but continues to languish behind bars even after the Constitutional Court ruled twice — most recently last month — that he should be freed, spurring angry reactions across the political spectrum and casting a further shadow over the courts’ independence and the rule of law.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, took to X, formerly Twitter, to signal his disdain.

“This incompetent government has transformed our country into a banana republic where the constitution is not respected and law does not function,” Ozel wrote.