Turkish lawyers under guillotine of Erdogan’s authoritarian laws

Aya Ezz

Adding to the series of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s tyrannous acts, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has passed a law on trade union pluralism, which provides for the possibility of establishing multiple bar organizations instead of only one in certain provinces such as Istanbul and Ankara, with the minimum number of members required to form one of these organizations set at two thousand, in what lawyers consider a maneuver to limit their independence.

According to the official Anadolu Agency, the bill was voted on by the AKP and its political ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), as the AKP believed the law would enhance competition in the legal sector and allow for the establishment of democracy in strong bar associations.

The law caused anger among lawyers and opponents of the Erdogan regime, believing it to be an attempt to split and weaken the unions. The Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP), the main opposition party, announced that it would appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court.

The Ankara Bar Association is under constant harassment by the government. Most recently, the bar association was investigated by the public prosecutor after criticizing the head of the country’s largest religious body, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).

The opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has said that a large number of Turkish lawyers are being tried for defending the thousands of supporters and members of the party who have been detained since the collapse of peace talks between the Turkish authorities and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

According to the newspaper Zaman, the AKP regime has exercised control over the army and security forces since 2014, as well as the judiciary, economy, and even elections, by passing laws in parliament that allow the regime to silence opponents of Erdogan’s controversial policies.

Abdul Kheir Atallah, professor of political science at Assiut University in Egypt, told the Reference that the Turkish president wants to take over the judiciary so that he can pass laws and provisions that entrench his tyranny. He confirmed that the lawyers are aware of Erdogan’s intentions and confront him, so Erdogan and his party view these lawyers as an inconvenience. Therefore, the AKP passed the trade union pluralism law in order to tighten the screws on the authority of the judiciary.