Turkey's rule of law on slippery slope

The World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index for 2015 reported on June 3 that Turkey has fallen 21 places. In its 2014 report, Turkey had ranked 59th among 99 countries. In 2015, it was ranked 80th among 102 countries. The study came out just a few days before the June 7 elections, and when only a handful of opposition media outlets published the news in Turkish, it caused no uproar.

But the findings of this comprehensive study are crucial: The aggregate data supports an accelerated rise of authoritarianism. The findings also put Turkey in perspective over time and compares the country with others in its neighborhood and the world. Finally, they help forecast what Turkey can expect in the short run.

In the 2012-13 report that compared 97 countries, we again see that in almost all of the eight categories, Turkey worsened in 2014 and again in 2015. The World Justice Project explains its four principles, nine factors and 47 subfactors in gauging the rule of law. All countries are measured individually and then grouped into regions. Turkey is situated in the Eastern European and Central Asian countries. Out of 13 countries in its region, Turkey ranked sixth in 2014, and fell to 12th place in 2015. By polling Turkey's three biggest cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, the country was categorized as upper middle income.

Around the world, in 2015, when Turkey ranked 80th, Tunisia ranked 48th, Greece 33rd, Lebanon 68th and Mexico was 79th. One may find consolation in the fact that Turkey still ranked above Egypt (86th) and Iran (88th).