ISTANBUL — After repeated postponements and the passing of a controversial regulation on bar associations that prompted some legal professionals to march from Istanbul to Ankara in protest final yr, the influential Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) held elections this weekend and ousted its president of eight years, Metin Feyzioglu.
Within the latter a part of his tenure, Feyzioglu got here underneath elevated criticism for seemingly accommodating the political agenda of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Growth Celebration (AKP).
Feyzioglu notably backed a bill passed in July 2020 allowing the institution of a number of bar associations in Turkish cities, which opponents mentioned would weaken among the few remaining establishments nonetheless vital of presidency insurance policies following a broad crackdown on dissident teams sparked by a 2016 coup try in Turkey.
The invoice proved extremely divisive amongst legal professionals and residents. Amongst its main critics was then-Ankara Bar Affiliation Chair Erinc Sagkan, who Sunday gained elections to steer the TBB in a probably pivotal vote anticipated to bolster rule of regulation and the independence of the nation’s legal professionals.
“It’s comforting to see that the authorized occupation, as such, determined to face for its personal values, the values of independence no matter all political struggles,” Massimo Frigo, senior authorized advisor for the Europe and Central Asia program on the Worldwide Fee of Jurists, informed Al-Monitor. “I believe that is going to essentially give energy to the rule of regulation in Turkey.”
Framing his election as a vote for change, Sagkan accepted the TBB presidency Sunday, highlighting developments of accelerating human rights violations in Turkey in addition to failures to implement choices by the Constitutional Court docket, in addition to the European Court docket of Human Rights (ECHR).
“It has ceased to be only a TBB election,” Sagkan said. “We’ve come to the tip of a imaginative and prescient that we imagine didn’t make sufficient efforts to determine the rule of regulation.”
Sagkan collected the votes of 181 delegates, from a complete of 348, on the TBB’s thirty sixth ordinary general assembly held on Dec. 4-5, which had been postponed a number of occasions as a result of coronavirus pandemic. The incumbent Feyzioglu acquired 156 votes.
Following the vote, principal opposition Republican Folks’s Celebration Chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu congratulated the brand new TBB head in a tweet, saying, “The times after we will set up the rule of regulation collectively and you’ll fulfill your responsibility with out strain in our nation are close to!”
Sagkan’s election win comes after the a number of bar associations invoice was handed by a ruling AKP and nationalist coalition majority within the Turkish parliament. The invoice’s proponents argued it could create a extra democratic and pluralistic bar affiliation system in Turkey, whereas opponents noticed the regulation as a strategy to silence lawyers vital of state insurance policies or authorized procedures.
Earlier than its passing, 78 of 80 bar associations in Turkey signed an announcement opposing the invoice. Some bar affiliation chairs additionally mentioned the invoice would alter district voting mechanisms, making it simpler for extra government-friendly candidates to steer native bar associations.
In July 2020, when legal professionals marching towards the invoice have been briefly stopped and encircled by police in Ankara, then-TBB head Feyzioglu visited the positioning. The protesting legal professionals turned their backs to Feyzioglu in obvious disapproval of his management.
“Feyzioglu left those that voted for him eight years in the past,” Kerem Altiparmak, member of the Ankara Bar Affiliation, informed Al-Monitor. “When he got here to the place, he was seen to be in opposition to the federal government, however then he noticed the politics in Turkey have been altering so he selected to face with [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and his authorities.”
Altiparmak mentioned the a number of bar associations invoice was partially designed to spice up Feyzioglu’s re-election possibilities, however the try failed with Sunday’s vote. But the invoice has not gone with out consequence, as new bar associations have been established in Ankara and Istanbul since its passing.
With Sagkan now main the TBB, Altiparmak mentioned the union may extra intently monitor circumstances, report on authorized amendments referring to legal professionals and the judiciary, in addition to work extra usually with worldwide establishments — in distinction to his predecessor, who reportedly restricted such actions.
“[Feyzioglu] dismantled the environmental regulation group working within the bar affiliation’s union,” Altiparmak mentioned. “Now it may be created once more and may do extra reporting on corruption and environmental harm attributable to the development sector, for instance.”
Feyzioglu typically described such monitoring to be supportive of “imperialists” or overseas actors working to undermine Turkey. He additionally not often commented on the non-implementation of ECHR judgments for the circumstances of jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala and former Peoples’ Democratic Celebration Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtas.
Altiparmak mentioned the brand new TBB head may reverse such practices, citing previous collaborations with Sagkan during which he took on “very critical human rights reporting, which he knew may have threatened his place because the chair, however he tolerated the danger.”
“He positively can’t be worse than Feyzioglu, however we’ve to see how good it will likely be as a result of I’m positive the federal government has its personal plans … to stop the brand new union to work actively,” Altiparmak informed Al-Monitor.
