In a defiant challenge to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the head of the Constitutional Court has complained of government interference. <br /><br />Erdogan reluctantly complied with a high court ruling to unblock Twitter earlier this month. However, he said that he did not respect the ruling and described it as being against national interests.<br /><br />Chief Justice Hasim Kilic said that this and similar disagreements have traumatised and divided the judiciary.<br /><br />“The judiciary is not and should not be a place for setting a trap for the people’s will. The judiciary has recently been described as a ‘parallel state’ and a ‘gang’,” said Kılıc.<br /><br />Hours later, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag came to Erdogan’s defence, saying that Constitutional Court rulings are not beyond reproach and accusing the top judge of acting as an “opposition party”.<br /><br />“To make political statements, to enter political polemics is not among his duties,” Bozdag said.
