Academics and Jurists Warn the Government
In a statement signed by 150 academics, most of them professors, and jurists declared that Turkey has fallen into “circumstances similar to an Extraordinary Situation,” where the principle of adherence to the law has been suspended, and the risk has emerged of a sudden shift towards the unification of powers, whereby the executive could take-over both the legislative and judicial powers. The text reads as follows:
"The fact that thousands of public employees were abruptly removed from their positions and the changes planned in the structure of a key judiciary institution may undermine respect for legal security principle and jeopardize the legitimacy of the legal order."
“The Prime Minister finds an excuse to suspension of the principle of rule of law with reference to a situation of emergency which he compares to the country’s ‘War of Independence’. History, however, is replete with examples which show that emergency situations set their own frame of law where the suspension of rule of law becomes permanent.”
“It is clear that there was systematic use of manipulated and/or fabricated evidence by the specially authorized courts dealing with cases such as Ergenekon, Sledgehammer and KCK; journalists, academics, lawyers, NGO members, students, and Kurdish mayors were accused by such evidence and they were in effect punished by excessively long detention practices.”
“The government in power cannot avoid accepting the responsibility for the failings of the judiciary by blaming the Gülen movement, once its partner in power, for functioning as a ‘parallel state’ and carrying out all the abusive legal practices.”
“If, in a country, there are systematic violations of the right to fair trial, and if there is a clandestine organization based on religious hierarchy within the State as claimed also by those in power, these represent serious problems for that country. There must be immediate investigation of these allegations, and if there are law enforcement officers and members of the judiciary who abuse their powers and duties, they should be brought to account in due processes in line with the rule of law.”
“The displacement of thousands of public officers without any reasonable justification in a process that looks like a witch hunt is far from constituting a solution to the problem; it is rather an example of unlawfulness which can only create more victims.
“No political government has the right to drag the whole country into a legal, political, and economic quagmire just for the sake of covering up corruption charges it is facing.”
Petition signers
Prof. Dr. Adalet B. Alada · Prof. Dr. Ahmet Koman · Prof. Dr. Ahmet Haşim Köse · Prof. Dr. Ahmet Öncü · Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer · Av. Ahmet Dindar · Av. Akın Atalay · Prof. Dr. Alan Duben · Prof. Dr. Alev Özkazanç · Prof. Dr. Ali Esat Karakaya · Prof. Dr. Alpar Sevgen · Prof. Dr. Aslı Tunç · Av. Aycan Topay · Prof. Dr. Aydan Gülerce · Prof. Dr. Aydın Uğur · Prof. Dr. Ayhan Aktar · Prof. Dr. Ayhan Alkış · Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya · Prof. Dr. Ayla Zırh-Gürsoy · Prof. Dr. Ayşe Buğra · Prof. Dr. Ayşe Durakbaşa ·Prof. Dr. Ayşe Erzan · Prof. Dr. Ayşe Öncü · Doç. Dr. Ayşe Parla · Doç. Dr. Ayşen Candaş · Av. Bahri Bayram Belen · Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran · Prof. Dr. Bekir S. Kocazeybek · Prof. Dr. Billur Yaltı · Prof. Dr. Burhan Şenatalar · Prof. Dr. Büşra Ersanlı · Av. Canan Arın · Av. Ceren Cansu Akkaya · Prof. Dr. Cem Terzi · Prof. Dr. Cevza Sevgen · Av. Cevriye Aydın · Prof. Dr. Cumhur Ertekin · Prof. Dr. Çağlar Güven · Doç. Dr. Deniz Yükseker · Prof. Dr. Dilek Barlas · Prof. Dr. Dilek Doltaş · Doç. Dr. Dilek Ünalan · Prof. Dr. Durmuş Ali Demir · Prof. Dr. Ege Yazgan · Av. Ergin Cinmen · Prof. Dr. Ersin Kalaycıoğlu · Prof. Dr. Ertuğrul Ahmet Tonak · Prof. Dr. Ersan Demiralp · Doç. Dr. Esra Arsan · Prof. Dr. Fatma Şenyücel · Prof. Dr. Fatma Müge Göçek · Prof. Dr. Fatma Gök · Prof. Dr. Fatmagül Berktay · Prof. Dr. Feride Çiçekoğlu · Av. Fethiye Çetin · Prof. Dr. Ferhunde Özbay · Prof. Dr. Feza Deymeer · Prof. Dr. Fikret Adaman · Av. Fuat Topdemir · Doç. Dr. Galip Yalman · Prof. Dr. Gençay Gürsoy · Prof. Dr. Güler Fişek · Prof. Dr. Gülhan Türkay · Prof. Dr. Hacer Ansal · Prof. Dr. Hakan Gürvit · Doç. Dr. Haldun Sural · Prof. Dr. Haldun Gülalp · Av. Haluk İnanıcı · Prof. Dr. Hale Bolak Boratav ·Prof. Dr. Hasan Kirmanoğlu · Prof. Dr. Hasan Yazıcı · Av. Haydar Topay · Prof. Dr. Huri Özdoğan · Av. Hülya Gülbahar · Av. Hüsnü Öndül · Prof. Dr. İ. Ercan Alp · Prof. Dr. İbrahim Ö. Kaboğlu · Prof. Dr. İlker Özkan · Av. Kamil Tekin Sürek · Prof. Dr. İlter Turan · Prof. Dr. İştar Savaşır · Doç. Dr. İzak Atiyas · Prof. Dr. Jale Parla · Prof. Dr. Kuyaş Buğra · Prof. Dr. Lale Duruiz · Prof. Dr. M. Ali Alpar · Prof. Dr. M. Hamit Fişek · Prof. Dr. Mahmut Mutman · Av. Mebuse Tekay · Prof. Dr. Mehmet Zaman Saçlıoğlu · Prof. Dr. Mehmet Türkay · Prof. Dr. Melek Göregenli · Prof. Dr. Meryem Koray · Prof. Dr. Meyda Yeğenoğlu · Prof. Dr. Muhittin Mungan · Prof. Dr. Murat Özyüksel · Av. Mustafa Kemal Güngör · Prof. Dr. Nazan Aksoy · Prof. Dr. Nermin Abadan Unat · Prof. Dr. Nevra Necipoğlu · Prof. Dr. Nilgün Toker · Prof. Dr. Nihal İncioğlu · Prof. Dr. Nihal Saban · Doç. Dr. Nuray Mert · Prof. Dr. Nurhan Yentürk · Prof. Dr. Nüket Esen · Prof. Dr. Nükhet Sirman · Av. O. Meriç Eyüboğlu· Prof. Dr. Oktay Uygun · Prof. Dr. Onur Hamzaoğlu · Doç. Dr. Ozan Erözden · Prof. Dr. Öget Öktem Tanör · Av. Ömer Güven · Av. Ömer Kavilli · Prof. Dr. Özdemir Aktan · Doç. Dr. Öznur Sevdiren · Prof. Dr. Raşit Kaya · Prof. Dr. Raşit Tükel · Prof. Dr. Rezzan Tuncay · Prof. Dr. Rona Serozan · Prof. Dr. Samim Akgönül · Av. Selim Baktıaya · Prof. Dr. Serkant Ali Çetin · Prof. Dr. Serpil Sancar · Prof. Dr. Sema Erder · Prof. Dr. Semih Bilgen · Doç. Dr. Serra Müderrisoğlu · Doç. Dr. Serhat Güvenç · Prof. Dr. Sevgin Akış Roney · Prof. Dr. Sibel Irzık · Prof. Dr. Sibel İnceoğlu · Prof. Dr. Şahika Yüksel · Prof. Dr. Şevket Pamuk · Prof. Dr. Taha Parla · Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yeşildere · Prof. Dr. Taner Gören · Prof. Dr. Taner Timur · Prof. Dr. Turgut Tarhanlı · Em. Hkm. Ümit Kardaş · Prof. Dr. Ünal Zenginobuz · Prof. Dr. Yaman Barlas · Prof. Dr. Yasemin İnceoğlu · Prof. Dr. Yavuz Akpınar · Prof. Dr. Yeşim Atamer · Av. Yıldız İmrek · Prof. Dr. Yıldız Sey · Prof. Dr. Yonca Aslanbay · Prof. Dr. Yücel Sayman · Prof. Dr. Zeynep Direk · Av. Ziynet Özçelik (NV/BM)