Interior minister draws condemnation after saying jailing lawyers will 'finish off PKK'

Photo: AA

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Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu drew criticism during a gathering with the personnel of the General Directorate of Security in İstanbul, as he made remarks associating lawyers with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"When the lawyers of the PKK are put behind bars, you will no longer see anything left of the PKK in Turkey. They are the target. It's as clear as day," he said during yesterday's event.

The Diyarbakır Bar Association has responded to Soylu's words, highlighting how his rhetoric criminalizes the legal profession.

In a written statement, the bar said, "The interior minister, on April 24, made a similar statement on his personal Twitter account accompanied by footage of an operation, referring to it as 'an operation against lawyers working on behalf of terrorist organizations.'

"This statement violated the presumption of innocence and influenced the judiciary. As a result, four of our colleagues were unlawfully arrested solely for their professional activities.

"We are also aware that the Interior Minister's unfortunate and targeting statement carries the threat of a new investigation.

"We are in a process where fundamental rights and freedoms are arbitrarily interfered with, where lawyers, along with human rights defenders, professional organizations, and civil society organizations associated with them, are targeted by the judiciary and subjected to threats of punishment.

"Despite everything, we would like to remind once again that a lawyer is an independent representative of the free defense, which is one of the founding elements of the judiciary, ensuring access to justice and fair trial for all citizens.

"We share with the public that we do not accept this criminalizing and targeting language towards our profession." (EMK/VK)