As parliament discusses bar associations bill, lawyers protest outside till morning

Photos: AA, Twitter

Click to read the article in Turkish

After not being included in the negotiations on a ruling party proposal about changing the Attorneys' Act, bar association chairs spent the night in front of the parliament. 

Prepared by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Bill on Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws allows more than one bar association in larger provinces.

Dozens of bar association chairs have been protesting the government's plans to change the law for weeks.

Saat 04.15 ; Adalet Komisyonunda görüşmeler devam ediyor.

Meclis önünde Baro Başkanlarım ve meslektaşlarımızla beklemeye devam ediyoruz.

Tabi ki #Vazgecmeyeceğiz pic.twitter.com/oLcBhRVH0h

— Zülküf uçar (@zulkuf__ucar) July 3, 2020

The parliament's Justice Committee stated that it would only allow three representatives among the lawyers in the negotiations while 20 bar chairs requested to join the session.

After being prevented from entering the parliament, the İstanbul Bar Chair Mehmet Durakoğlu said in a tweet that, "The Attorneys' Act is being discussed inside. Bar chairs can't go in. Let's not show this photograph to anyone. I am embarrassed."

The lawyers then decided to wait at the entrance of the parliament until their demands are met. They are now waiting in front of the Çankaya Door of the parliament, being surrounded by police officers.

The Çankaya district mayor, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), sent benches to the lawyers spending the night outside. However, the police did not allow them to be delivered. CHP deputies intervened and brought the benches themselves.

Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) Chair Metin Feyzioğlu said the Committee did not accept the lawyers' request because "it was against the procedures" and there was not enough space due to the pandemic.

Feyzioğlu said on Twitter that he conveyed AKP Parliamentary Group Chair Bülent Turan's offer of allowing three lawyers to the bar chairs, who rejected that and requested to attend the meeting altogether.

Diyarbakır Bar Chair Cihan Aydın shared this photo and said, "It's true that I slept a little."

Lawyers set off for Ankara rally

After the bar associations announced that they would hold a "Great Defense Rally" in the capital Ankara today (July 3), the Governor's Office banned "all demonstrations and events" in the city.

Following the ban, İstanbul Bar sent a message to its members, announcing that their buses wouldn't be allowed to enter Ankara, therefore they canceled the bus service.

Lawyers set off from İstanbul and İzmir despite the ban. 

What does the proposal say?

Under the bill, bars that have more than 5,000 members can split into other bars so long as they have at least 2,000 lawyers. Only some larger cities, including İstanbul and Ankara, have this many members.

There are a total of 127,691 lawyers in Turkey, according to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB). Among the three largest provinces of the country, İstanbul has 46,052, Ankara, the capital, has 17,598, and İzmir has 9,612 lawyers.

Each bar association in the provinces will be represented by three delegates and a president in the General Assembly of the TBB.

In the first week of September, elections for bar associations would be held and in December for the General Assembly. Elections would be held every two years for the bars and every four years for the union. (AS/VK)