An overwhelming majority of Turks, 60 percent, disapprove of non-compliance with decisions of the Constitutional Court (AYM), the T24 news website reported on Thursday, citing a recent opinion poll.
The results of the “Turkey’s Pulse” survey were announced Thursday on X by Professor Özer Sencar, owner of the Metropoll polling company.
Constitutional Court decisions and the public's perspective on the issue. pic.twitter.com/XqnkasvmyH
— Ozer Sencar (@ozersencar1) January 4, 2024
The survey, conducted on 1,800 people across 28 provinces in Turkey November 15-19, showed that 60 percent of participants replied in the negative when asked, “Do you think it is right to refuse to comply with Constitutional Court rulings?”
While only 22.6 percent answered in the affirmative to the question, those who didn’t respond accounted for 17.4 percent of survey-takers.
The survey revealed that the majority of supporters of different political parties agree that it is not right to refuse to comply with AYM rulings.
Among those who replied “No” were 71.6 percent of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) supporters, 67.1 percent of nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party supporters, 63.5 percent of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) supporters, 50.8 percent of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) supporters and 45.6 percent of supporters of its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The party with the highest rate of “yes” replies was the MHP with 34 percent, followed by the AKP (27.6 percent), DEM Party (26.6 percent), İYİ Party (23.3 percent) and the CHP (19.1 percent).
The survey comes over an ongoing judicial crisis concerning the case of Can Atalay, an opposition lawmaker who remains jailed despite two decisions by the AYM in his favor.
The AYM had ruled that the rights of Atalay, who was elected to parliament in May from the Workers Party of Turkey (TİP), were violated due to his continued incarceration, despite acquiring parliamentary immunity. The 13th High Criminal Court has refused to comply with the top court’s decision and sent the case back to the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ruled against Atalay’s release for a second time on Wednesday, exacerbating the crisis.
The Turkish judiciary faces widespread criticism for its perceived lack of independence. Critics accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of exerting control over the judiciary and establishing one-man rule in the country, particularly after a coup attempt in 2016, following which he launched a massive crackdown on non-loyalist citizens and the country’s subsequent transition to a presidential system of governance, which granted him vast powers.
Many say there is no longer a separation of powers in the country and that members of the judiciary are under the control of the government and cannot make judgments based on law.
In a development that validated the critics, Turkey was ranked 117th among 142 countries in the rule of law index published by the World Justice Project (WJP) in October, dropping one rank compared to last year.