President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Kadir Özkaya participated in Cairo Eighth High Level Meeting of the Chief Justices/Presidents of the African Constitutional and Supreme Courts and Constitutional Councils, which was held in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, as an observer member upon the invitation of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt.

President Mr. Kadir Özkaya was accompanied by Vice-President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Hasan Tahsin Gökcan, Members of the Constitutional Court Mr. Recai Akyel, Mr. Yusuf Şevki Hakyemez and Mr. Selahaddin Menteş, and Chief Rapporteur-Judge Mr. Abdullah Çelik at the meeting held by the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt between 26-30 January 2025.

President Özkaya, delivering a speech at the first session of the meeting with the main theme “The Role of the Judicial Constitutional Review in the Development of Peoples”, shared the Turkish Constitutional Court’s experience with the state of emergency.

“Constitutional Courts are Institutions Founded to Realise the Common Goal of Ensuring Both Individuals and the State to Live on An Equitable Basis”

Emphasising that the Constitutional Courts are institutions founded to realise the common goal of ensuring both individuals and the State to live on an equitable basis, President Özkaya added “Accordingly, the constitutional courts are primarily tasked with ensuring the functionality of constitutions, considered as social contracts that determine the exercise of sovereign power in the light of democratic principles by securing fundamental rights and freedoms.”

In this context, President Özkaya stated that a state of emergency is of particular importance for the constitutional justice. He defined states of emergency as the regimes of an exceptional nature, albeit operating within legal framework, in which the statutory provisions relating to states of emergency are applied, and the employed practices are subject to judicial review.  

Stressing that the Turkish Constitutional Court has touched upon these particular matters in its numerous decisions, President Özkaya referred to the relevant decisions and stated: “The administrations during state of emergency are regimes deriving its legitimacy from the Constitution, are put into effect in accordance with constitutional provisions, and are subject to the supervision of the legislative and judicial bodies. Moreover, such administration should aim at protecting and upholding the constitutional order. Therefore, despite granting significant powers to the executive organ and restricting rights and freedoms to a great extent, it is ultimately a legal regime.”

“Extraordinary Measures Aimed at Purging the FETÖ from within the State were Implemented”

President Özkaya indicated that the most recent state of emergency regime in Türkiye was implemented in the aftermath of the coup attempt of 15 July 2016. Emphasising that the treacherous terrorist organisation known as the Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation (“FETÖ”) staged a coup attempt with a heinous attack against the nation and state and the said attempt was thwarted by the determined stance and resistance of the nation and state, President Özkaya continued “Given that the said treacherous organization had infiltrated public institutions for years and it had atypical structure as well as crypto tactics, a comprehensive and rigorous fight was necessary. In this regard, on 20 July 2016, a state of emergency was declared nationwide by the Government exercising the authority granted by the Constitution, within the scope of the State of Emergency Law, starting from 21 July 2016 until 18 July 2018. During this period, the declaration of a state of emergency enabled the implementation of extraordinary measures aimed at neutralizing the existing threat and purging the terrorist organisation from within the State.”

 “State of Emergency Measures were Taken and Implemented in accordance with Constitutional Rules and Principles in Türkiye”

Pointing out that the measures at the material time were taken and implemented in accordance with constitutional rules and principles, President Mr. Kadir Özkaya stated “All branches of the State, including the executive, legislative, and judicial bodies, have performed their duties, which have been conferred upon them by the Constitution and laws, in compliance with these legal instruments. Although the decree-laws introducing the state of emergency measures were not initially subject to judicial review, they were subject to constitutionality review once they had been submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT) for approval and acquired the status of law. Therefore, the state of emergency measures were introduced within a legal framework and subjected to judicial review.”

President Özkaya also underlined that while the Court lacked the authority to conduct a constitutionality review of a state of emergency decree-law regarding emergency measures, it was empowered to examine, within the scope of individual applications, the implementation of the measures on practical and individual basis.

Pointing to the fact that the Court has rendered significant judgments regarding the state of emergency measures, both in constitutionality review and individual applications, President Özkaya shared examples of these judgments.  He noted that the Court developed a substantial body of case-law pertaining to the restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms during a state of emergency.

Concluding his remarks, President Özkaya expressed his wish for the shared future of humanity marked by a just and lasting peace across every corner of the world, a swift return to moral values and justice and that justice prevails on the Earth. Chief Justices/Presidents of the Constitutional/Supreme Courts and Constitutional Councils participating in the meeting were also hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

As part of their visit to Egypt, President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Kadir Özkaya and the accompanying delegation also visited the Turkish Embassy in Cairo and held meeting with Ambassador Mr. Salih Mutlu Şen.

Click for the full text of the remarks delivered by President Kadir Özkaya.