* Source and photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu spoke at the weekly group meeting of his party yesterday (June 23).
Referring to the "Defense March" of bar chairs that ended yesterday after they were allowed to enter Ankara, CHP Chair has underlined that bar associations are public entities according to the Constitution and said:
"A state cannot have two Central Banks. A province cannot have two governors. A hamlet cannot have two sub-governors. There cannot be two ministers of finance. And a province has a single bar association."
CLICK - Bar chairs said 'We will call on all lawyers to come to Ankara,' barricades removed
Protesting the planned amendments to the Attorneys' Act, the chairs of several bar associations of Turkey marched to Ankara. However, they were blocked at the entrance of the capital city, where they had to spend the night behind police barricades and under heavy rain.
As the bar chairs announced that "they would call on all lawyers across Turkey to come to Ankara," they were allowed to enter the city and could finally reach the Monumental Tomb of Atatürk yesterday.
The amendment in question reportedly foresees that a province can have more than one bar association, which is currently not the case.
'They want to institutionalize pressure'
Within this context, CHP Chair Kılıçdaroğlu has underlined that "those who want to institutionalize pressure find some solutions for themselves, they find some tools to increase this pressure, make efforts for that end or they make it possible by exerting pressure."
Indicating that one of these means is the judiciary, Kılıçdaroğlu has added, "If you exert pressure on the judiciary and ensure that judges are no longer judges and prosecutors are no longer prosecutors by turning them into slaves of the palace, the judiciary will also no longer be a judiciary and prosecutors will no longer be prosecutors."
'Trust in the judiciary at rock bottom'
Arguing that "trust in the judiciary is at rock bottom" among the society of Turkey, Kılıçdaroğlu has briefly stated the following about the issue:
"I do not say this, it is said by the President of the Court of Cassation, the President of the Constitutional Court and citizens on the street. 'Is there justice in this country,' you ask them. They answer, 'What justice are you talking about? There is no justice.'
"But we will make this happen and one of the elements that will make this happen is lawyers. They have taken the judiciary under their control, they have taken prosecutors under their control... Now, it is the turn of lawyers.
"'We will pass a law for this,' they say. For what? To split the bar associations... Don't you have something else to do, for God's sake? They are making efforts for this.
"According to the Constitution, bar associations are public entities. To put it in simpler terms: A state cannot have two separate Central Banks. A province cannot have two separate governors. A hamlet cannot have two separate sub-governors. There cannot be two separate ministers of finance. And a province has a single bar association.
"Bar associations are elected by votes. The chair of a bar association is elected. Defense is a sacred right."
'We will see whether the judge waits for a sign'
CHP Chair Kılıçdaroğlu has also referred to jailed journalists Barış Terkoğlu, Barış Pehlivan, Hülya Kılınç, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel, who will stand trial for the first time today (June 24).
Behind bars for over 110 days, six journalists are facing charges for reporting on the death of an intelligence officer in Libya.
Referring to today's hearing, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said, "Let us see whether he is a real judge or a judge that waits for a sign from the palace. These people are also in isolation and there is one empty prison cell left between each two of them so that they will not talk."
'Don't torment justice, humanity to such extent'
CHP Chair has stated the following about the imprisonment of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP):
"In the Republic of Turkey, there are - of course - respectable prosecutors who fulfil their duties, who enforce the laws, defend justice and have conscience. The Constitutional Court has concluded that the arrest of Selahattin Demirtaş has exceeded the reasonable duration and that the Article 19 of the Constitution has been violated. It has sentenced the Republic of Turkey to pay 50 thousand lira in damages.
CLICK - Constitutional Court: Rights of Selahattin Demirtaş violated
"Similarly, it has also concluded that the right to personal liberty and security of Eren Erdem has been violated.
"Selahattin Demirtaş is a politician for whom a ruling of release has been given for four times so far, but none of these rulings has been put into force and he is imprisoned again. You can agree with him or not, it is something else... But if you unlawfully imprison a person, the public conscience will be disturbed no matter what you do afterwards to make amends.
"Don't torment justice and humanity to such an extent. On what grounds do you not put the ruling of release into force? It is the reflection of a dictatorial regime in Turkey." (AÖ/SD)
