Turkish Constitutional Court exceeds its powers – deputy PM
By Trend
The Constitutional Court of Turkey exceeds its powers, said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag.
He was commenting on the acquittal of journalists Sahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan by the court, the Turkish media outlets reported Jan. 12.
Bozdag said that the Constitutional Court is not entitled to exercise the powers of the Court of Appeal.
Earlier, the Constitutional Court of Turkey made a decision on the release of Sahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan, who were arrested on charges of propagating the ideas of Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish authorities accused of involvement in an attempted military coup in the country.
Sahin Alpay was arrested on July 31, 2016 and Mehmet Altan was arrested in September 2018.
On July 15 evening, 2016, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.
The death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 250 people, and more than 2,000 people were wounded.
The Turkish authorities accuse the leader of the “Hizmet” movement, Fethullah Gulen, of involvement in an attempted military coup and demand the US to extradite him.
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