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Turkish Constitutional Court caught red-handed

The European Court of Human Rights has just struck a massive blow to Turkey's Constitutional Court, which is the target of criticisms that it does little to protect human rights.
Can Dundar (R) , the opposition Cumhuriyet daily's editor-in-chief and Erdem Gul (L),Cumhuriyet daily's Ankara bureau chief speak to the media after being freed from Silivri prison in Istanbul on February 26,2016.  Turkey's constitutional court ruled that the rights of two Turkish opposition journalists charged with revealing state secrets in a hugely controversial case had been violated, paving the way for their release after three months in jail.  AFP PHOTO / VEDAT ARIK/ CUMHURIYET DAILY / AFP / CUMHURIYE

The Turkish Constitutional Court — once seen as a bulwark of freedoms and human rights — is now criticized for its inability to deliver justice to Turkish citizens.

The top court has issued crucial freedom-serving decisions in the past, such as the decision to lift the ban on Twitter and Facebook, and another that challenged the government's anti-democratic actions. Since 2016, however, it has been at the receiving end of criticisms over its hesitation to deliberate certain cases that might provoke the ire of the government.

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