ANKARA, May 30: The head of Turkey's top court accused Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday of using threats against her court that undermined the supremacy of the law and said she would file a complaint against him.
The prime minister has immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament, but Tulay Tugcu's unprecedented public attack highlights continued tensions between Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government and Turkey's secular elite, including its judges.
Erdogan infuriated the Constitutional Court on Tuesday by describing as “a disgrace” a ruling that forced the cancellation of Turkey's presidential election in parliament. He suggested the court verdict had been politically motivated.
“The prime minister's remarks ignore the supremacy of law, contain threats, insults and hostility and expose our court as a target (for attack),” Tugcu, head of the Constitutional Court, told a rare news conference.
“The prime minister's remarks exceed the bounds of respect.”
Her decision to file a legal complaint is unlikely to have any practical consequences but will be an annoying distraction for Erdogan as his ruling AK Party prepares for a July 22 general election brought forward several months because of the crisis.
The move also accentuates the rift between Erdogan and Turkey's secular establishment, which includes President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the powerful army General Staff and opposition parties, who all distrust him because of his Islamist past.
Prosecutors must now decide if Erdogan has a case to answer. In Turkey it is a crime to insult state institutions. But only a decision by parliament, where his AK Party has a big majority, could strip Erdogan of his immunity from prosecution.
DISGRACE: Erdogan said in a television interview on Tuesday that the Constitutional Court's ruling that at least 367 deputies must be present in parliament for a presidential election to be valid had shown the court was politically biased.
“This verdict will be much discussed. This is not over. I speak very frankly. This is unfortunate for the judiciary, it is a disgrace,” Erdogan said.
The court ruling torpedoed the government's efforts to have parliament elect Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as Turkey's new president. The presidential election has now been postponed until after parliamentary polls set for July 22.
Turkey's secular elite is opposed to Gul, another former Islamist, becoming head of state, fearing he will try to erode the separation of state and religion. Both Gul and Erdogan strongly reject the claim.
Earlier this month, prosecutors conducted a similar investigation after Erdogan referred to the same Constitutional Court ruling as “a bullet fired at democracy”.
Erdogan later said his comments had been aimed not at the court but at Deniz Baykal, leader of the secularist main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
