The chairman of the Intercollegiate Board (UAK), which represents the rectors of Turkey’s universities, on Friday said the judiciary was criticized unfairly by both the government and from abroad.
External forces, both inside and outside the country, had attempted to direct the court in ongoing cases and intervene in the judiciary, adding the board was adverse to such interventions, board chairman Mustafa Akaydin told a press conference in Ankara.
Ural Akbulut, the rector of the Ankara-based Middle East Technical University, said judiciary should not be repressed.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that the judiciary was being subjected to political pressure and government moves to reform the judiciary amounted to an attempt to hinder the independence of the courts.
Late on Thursday, the Council of State, Turkey’s top administrative court, issued a statement supporting the stand taken by the Supreme Court and rejecting criticisms made by AKP officials that the statement was politically motivated.
