Freedom of Political Party in The European Convention on Human Rights: EU Practice and The Case of Turkey

In this research, it is aimed to investigate the freedom of political parties in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in terms of implementations of the EU countries and the example of Turkey. Within the scope of the study, the provisions of the ECHR, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Venice Criteria, the standards brought by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, some EU countries' practises and the practice in Turkey were examined. In this context, it has been determined that the legislation on freedom of political party and case-law in domestic law contain some problems in terms of compliance with the provisions of the ECHR and the case-law of the ECtHR. In the study, it is stated that the provisions in the constitution and legislation should be revised and amended in parallel with the provisions of the ECHR and the case-law of the ECtHR. In addition, it has been evaluated that the Turkish Constitutional Court should decide on the cases about closure of political parties by interpreting the current legislation with an approach in line with the case-law of the ECtHR.