Top judge vows to 'expand freedoms' amid row with the government

ANKARA

Constitutional Court Head Haşim Kılıç delivers a speech on the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the establishment of the Court. AA Photo

Constitutional Court Head Haşim Kılıç has said the Court will continue to be the guarantee of “expanding freedoms” for the Turkish people through the right to individual application, amid an ongoing disagreement with the government over its recent verdict lifting the ban on Twitter.

“We reiterate that the Constitutional Court will continue to be the guarantee of the Turkish people with its understanding to expand the freedoms of citizens through the individual application right and with its determination on the inseparableness of our state and our people,” Kılıç wrote in the Special Book at the Anıtkabir Mausoleum, on the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the establishment of the Court.     

The Court will officially commemorate its foundation at a ceremony on April 25, where Kılıç will deliver a speech. President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also be present at the ceremony.

Erdoğan had slammed the Constitutional Court’s verdict that the government’s Twitter block was unconstitutional, saying he “does not respect the decision.” He has since made an individual application to the Court demanding that the block of Twitter be reintroduced, on the grounds that his personal rights were breached on the social media website.