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The recently passed bar associations law undermined Turkey's unity and integrity, according to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chair of the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP).
At his party's parliamentary group meeting yesterday (July 14), Kılıçdaroğlu thanked his party's lawmakers for their active opposition to the bill during debates in the parliament.
Defining the law as a "project of multiple laws," he said, "Objecting to this project, protecting Turkey's unity and integrity is a primary duty of the CHP, which carried out this duty."
Kılıçdaroğlu criticized the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli for supporting the bill.
"I call on the conscience of nationalists and those who love their flag and county: Why did you favor this bill?" he asked, claiming that the MHP betrayed its history by backing the law.
Parliament on July 11 passed the law allowing the country's bar associations to split into smaller groups.
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The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and MHP lawmakers backed the law, while all other opposition parties opposed it.
The CHP has said it would challenge the law at the Constitutional Court.
Under the law, bar associations that have more than 5,000 members can split into other bar associations as long as they have at least 2,000 lawyers as members.
Each bar association in the provinces will be represented by three delegates and a president in the General Assembly of Union of Turkish Bar Associations.
Critics say that the new system will cause the formation of politically divided bar associations. (PT/VK)
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