Turkey is ranked 103rd in global democracy index

Turkey was ranked 103rd globally with an average score of 4.35 by The Economist's Democracy Index 2022, its place remaining unchanged compared to 2021.

Its place close to the bottom of "hybrid regimes," Turkey was ranked above neighboring Iraq (ranked 124th), Azerbaijan (134th), Russia (146th) and Iran (154), who were classified as "authoritarian," but were way below Georgia (ranked 90th), Armenia (82nd), Bulgaria (57th), Cyprus (37th) and Greece (26th).

"Turkey is the only 'hybrid regime' in the region, meaning that democracy is seriously circumscribed. Elections are not usually free and fair, the media is subject to censorship, the rule of law is weak, and corruption is rife," it said under the highlights of the index.

It continued:

"Turkey has suffered a steep decline in its score over the past decade, under the leadership of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. From a high of 5.76 points in 2012, Turkey's average score has fallen by 1.41 points to 4.35 in 2022. This downwards trajectory reflects the increasingly autocratic rule of its strongman president (...) Mr Erdogan ramped up pressure on the media, the opposition and public dissent in 2022, but the country already has very low scores across all categories, so they could not go much lower for many indicators."

The passing of a new disinformation law in Turkey was underlined as an indication of a trend towards further repression:

"The trend towards increasing repression was highlighted in October 2022 by the passing of a new disinformation law, which includes a jail sentence for 'disseminating false information' about the country’s security and public order. In April 2022 Mr. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party also amended the election law to facilitate the appointment of sympathetic judges to electoral boards and make it even more difficult for smaller parties to enter parliament via electoral alliances."