Defne Tekin, Grade 11
UWC Maastricht
Growing up in Turkey, a country that, historically, has almost always been divided by contradicting ideologies, and especially more so after our failed coup attempt in 2016 one finds themselves torn apart between extremist groups sometimes. This, in my opinion, makes our right to freedom of opinion and expression and our right to freedom of assembly vitally important, both of which have been defined as human rights by the UN among other international organisations…
On the 23rd of June, a group of lawyers including heads of several bar associations marched onto the city of Ankara, Turkey’s capital to “denounce plans” of the government that introduced a draft bill which would amend the law for bar associations as well as attorneys. Because the police tried to stop the protests, there was a 26-hour standoff before the march could continue. This was only the final stage of the week-long protests all around the country against the bill, however. A few days before, thousands of Turkish lawyers had gathered outside Çağlayan, which is the main courthouse in Istanbul, the most populated city in Turkey. They were mainly protesting against the bill that, if approved, would allow for more than one professional association for lawyers. Multiple bars would be formed in Turkey instead of the regional bar associations that are permitted now.
Erdoğan, who is the president of Turkey, explained the aim of the planned measure as making the bar associations “more democratic and pluralist.” With the leading party having the majority of votes in the national and regional elections, it is only logical to assume that many people will support this measure. Mehmet Durakoğlu, who is head of the Istanbul Bar Association, explains that his association will continue to fight against this bill, despite admitting that “it (the bill) is likely to become law given the majority that the AK Party and its nationalist MHP allies have in parliament”. AKP (the ruling party) lawmakers argue that the new legislation is a necessity due to the burdensome number of lawyers in Turkey. Many people like Kamil Erozan (the deputy head of “İyi Party”, an opposition party); however, argues that this move’s aim is to “divide and rule”. According to him, the move is intended to reduce the associations which have been “outspoken critics” of Erdogan’s government.
Many of the protesters fear that the intended changes aim to silence lawyers whose views run counter to the government. They are scared that the bill will lead to “politicisation of their professions”. This means that every person will have their own bar associations to turn to, the conservatives to the lawyers in their bar associations and the secular in theirs… A lawyer’s -who has refused to give her name- comments explain this situation further. She has said that “Lawyers being registered with different bars will lead to division. Lawyers will be classified according to their bars... We think there are serious dangers.”
To conclude, unfortunately, it seems likely that the bill will pass through the parliament. Rather than stating the obvious dangers of the approval of this draft bill, I want to point out the irony I found in all of this. The creators of the bill claim that it will allow more opinions and bars to be represented and make the bar associations “more democratic and pluralist”. Therefore, I’m assuming that they value democracy and democratic ways. While saying this, however, they are contradicting themselves by trying to prevent protests happening by police intervention and brutality through pepper gas spraying lawyers for example.
On the 23rd of June, a group of lawyers including heads of several bar associations marched onto the city of Ankara, Turkey’s capital to “denounce plans” of the government that introduced a draft bill which would amend the law for bar associations as well as attorneys. Because the police tried to stop the protests, there was a 26-hour standoff before the march could continue. This was only the final stage of the week-long protests all around the country against the bill, however. A few days before, thousands of Turkish lawyers had gathered outside Çağlayan, which is the main courthouse in Istanbul, the most populated city in Turkey. They were mainly protesting against the bill that, if approved, would allow for more than one professional association for lawyers. Multiple bars would be formed in Turkey instead of the regional bar associations that are permitted now.
Erdoğan, who is the president of Turkey, explained the aim of the planned measure as making the bar associations “more democratic and pluralist.” With the leading party having the majority of votes in the national and regional elections, it is only logical to assume that many people will support this measure. Mehmet Durakoğlu, who is head of the Istanbul Bar Association, explains that his association will continue to fight against this bill, despite admitting that “it (the bill) is likely to become law given the majority that the AK Party and its nationalist MHP allies have in parliament”. AKP (the ruling party) lawmakers argue that the new legislation is a necessity due to the burdensome number of lawyers in Turkey. Many people like Kamil Erozan (the deputy head of “İyi Party”, an opposition party); however, argues that this move’s aim is to “divide and rule”. According to him, the move is intended to reduce the associations which have been “outspoken critics” of Erdogan’s government.
Many of the protesters fear that the intended changes aim to silence lawyers whose views run counter to the government. They are scared that the bill will lead to “politicisation of their professions”. This means that every person will have their own bar associations to turn to, the conservatives to the lawyers in their bar associations and the secular in theirs… A lawyer’s -who has refused to give her name- comments explain this situation further. She has said that “Lawyers being registered with different bars will lead to division. Lawyers will be classified according to their bars... We think there are serious dangers.”
To conclude, unfortunately, it seems likely that the bill will pass through the parliament. Rather than stating the obvious dangers of the approval of this draft bill, I want to point out the irony I found in all of this. The creators of the bill claim that it will allow more opinions and bars to be represented and make the bar associations “more democratic and pluralist”. Therefore, I’m assuming that they value democracy and democratic ways. While saying this, however, they are contradicting themselves by trying to prevent protests happening by police intervention and brutality through pepper gas spraying lawyers for example.
Bibliography:
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/06/30/world/europe/ap-eu-turkey-lawyers.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-lawyers/turkish-lawyers-protest-against-government-plan-to-reform-bar-associations-idUSKBN241216
https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/baro-baskanlarina-polis-m%C3%BCdahalesine-tepkiler/5473080.html
https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2020/gundem/savunma-mitingi-bugun-yapilacak-polis-alani-kapatti-5902589/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-lawyers-protest-bar-association-reform-police
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/06/30/world/europe/ap-eu-turkey-lawyers.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-lawyers/turkish-lawyers-protest-against-government-plan-to-reform-bar-associations-idUSKBN241216
https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/baro-baskanlarina-polis-m%C3%BCdahalesine-tepkiler/5473080.html
https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2020/gundem/savunma-mitingi-bugun-yapilacak-polis-alani-kapatti-5902589/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-lawyers-protest-bar-association-reform-police
www.unitedworldwide.co