Speech That Does Not Call for Violence Falls Within Freedom of Expression: The Constitutional Court's Decision on the Ayşe Çelik Application

17 May 2019Murat Volkan DülgerCommentary

Introduction

This work was written in Turkish. The summary on this page is a translation; the citation gives the original title in parentheses.

For a long time Türkiye’s public agenda was dominated by the case of a teacher named Ayşe Çelik, who called in to Beyaz Show by telephone and said “Everything is being reported very differently; I mean, I really cannot speak. Do not stay silent; as human beings, approach this with a little more sensitivity. See us, hear us at last, lend us a hand. It is a pity; let people not die, let children not die, let mothers not cry”, and who was then convicted of the offence of making propaganda for a terrorist organisation and sentenced to imprisonment. On Ayşe Çelik’s individual application, the Constitutional Court delivered its decision on the matter known as the “Teacher Ayşe case” on 10 May 2019 (Application no. 2017/36722).

In this decision the Constitutional Court gave detailed explanations of the meaning and scope of freedom of expression and of making propaganda for a terrorist organisation, and held unanimously that Teacher Ayşe’s freedom of expression had been violated. Although a right protected by the Constitution and international conventions may be restricted, certain conditions must be met for the restriction to be regarded as legitimate. Article 13 of the Constitution regulates the conditions under which fundamental rights and freedoms may be restricted: “Fundamental rights and freedoms may be restricted only by law and only on the grounds specified in the relevant articles of the Constitution, without infringing upon their essence. These restrictions shall not be contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, the requirements of the democratic order of society and the secular Republic, or the principle of proportionality.”