HOW INFLUENTIAL ARE THE STANDARDS OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE TURKISH CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM IN BANNING POLITICAL PARTIES?

The European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) affects the Turkish constitutional system through two distinct paths. First, some of the constitutional provisions are rooted in the Convention. Second, the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) guide the interpretation of domestic law in courts. The Turkish Constitutional Court (TCC) also enjoins domestic law from conflicting with the Convention and the ECHR rulings, thanks to Article 90 of the Constitution that gives international human rights agreements priority over statutory norms. However, the TCC generally uses the principles of the Convention for the interpretation of the characteristics of the State to justify its narrow approach concerning rights and freedoms. Cases concerning the dissolution of political parties may be given as good examples to illustrate the TCC’s relatively closed viewpoint. An oppposing current is seen in the political process in which recent constitutional amendments follow the EU standards and ongoing ECHR rulings that have been decided against Turkey have made some changes in the TCC’s established perpective on political parties. This article will examine the changing approach of the TCC on the matter of banning political parties which violate the principle of “indivisible integrity of the State with its territory and nation” which is one of the constitutional and statutory grounds for dissolution.