The Turkish Supreme Court has released a statement saying it is unfortunate the European Union is describing the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which perpetrated the failed July 15 coup attempt, as the "Gülen Movement" instead of a terrorist organization.

The Supreme Court responded with a written statement to the EU's "Turkey Progress Report" published on Nov. 9 where it said ignoring the role of FETÖ terrorist organization in the bloody coup attempt on July 15 was a cause of disappointment."This definition is not compatible with European values ​​and it is saddening to not define the group as terrorist organization while the issue is self-explanatory," said the Supreme Court.

The Court emphasized that not mentioning the illegal evidence produced by prosecutors and judges loyal to FETÖ in the statement was not acceptable, and while the matter was quite apparent, FETÖ was still not accepted as a terrorist organization.

The Presidency of the Supreme Court emphasized that the 15 July coup attempt, unlike what was stated in the report, was not strongly condemned by the EU.



Reminding that the EU report said "the divisional courts were opened hastily after 15 July," the Supreme Court of Appeals noted that the legal arrangements about those courts were requested by the EU and that the works for it had been carried out for 12 years.

The Supreme Court underlined that two of these courts were built with funds provided by the EU. In the statement, the criticism that the Supreme Court was under the influence of the political "executive" was also answered as following:

"There is the active participation of high court members in the decision-making process. It is a crucial part of the high court culture, that putting forward all the views and decisions in chambers and general assemblies and discussing them freely with all the dimensions within a democratic understanding. Also, the necessity to take more than half of the votes of Grand General Assembly in order to be elected to many administrations and representation authorities sets a great example of an independent and democratic working system. Despite the fact that this is the real situation, inserting the concern about the Supreme Court falling under the influence of the executive undermines the objectivity of the report and does not mean anything other than slogans."