Turkey: the independence of the judiciary at the crossroads

"If we don't believe in the freedom of expression of those who don't think like us, we don't believe in it." With these words, one of the great theorists of the 20th century, Noam Chomsky, defined what for him was freedom of expression, a fundamental right that all people have to adopt freely and without interference, thoughts or beliefs of a religious, political, social, economic and philosophical nature, among others, without fear of reprisals or sanctions. At the beginning of June, at least 79 associations and bar associations in Turkey issued a joint statement, calling on the executive to repeal a draft law that could jeopardise the effectiveness and independence of these institutions. 

In recent days, the presidents of more than 55 bar associations in the country have marched from their respective provinces to Ankara to protest against this draft law. The so-called "Defence March" officially started on 19 June in order to prevent the country's government from approving a legal reform that would supposedly allow the Executive to control the election of these institutions and to establish more than one professional association per province.  The right to peaceful demonstration shows the degree of respect and responsibility of the State for human rights, as well as the strength of its democratic institutions to prevent the use of violence against citizens. However, although this protest has started peacefully, the Turkish police have intervened by blocking the march and attacking some lawyers, preventing them from moving towards the centre of the city. 

The presidents of 56 of the country's 80 provincial bar associations have assured the digital Arab News that their march to the capital aims to "fight the darkness" that would conquer the country from the Bosphorus if this bill is passed. "Our sole objective is to ensure the rule of law and security in this country. This amendment to the law would unleash illegal structures within the judiciary. If the bar associations remain silent, citizens would not be able to express their demands to the state," the head of the bar association in the northern province of Giresun, Soner Karademir, told Arab News. 

The authoritarian drift of the Erdogan regime and the political repression to which dozens of lawyers, journalists and academics have been subjected in recent years has jeopardised the rights and freedoms of the country's citizens and transformed the balance of power.  The lack of confidence in judges and prosecutors loyal to the authoritarian Erdogan government and the continued imprisonment of lawyers has meant that those who want to raise their voices and show their opinions have had to pay a very high price. 

The Ankara and Istanbul bar associations have in recent months denounced this situation and criticised President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), for allowing and encouraging the failure of the judiciary to observe the principle of impartiality - understood as the right of every person to a judge to maintain an attitude of neutrality towards the subject matter of the dispute and the litigants. Ankara witnessed another march organized by the People's Democratic Party this weekend following the military operations carried out by Turkey in Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Iraq.

The Turkish police have arrested dozens of the lawyers who were peacefully protesting against the bill, which was pushed through by President Recep Tayyip's Justice and Development Party (AKP) Erdoğan. "Our march to the capital of this country is being stopped without any reason and that is completely illegal," said Erinç Sağkan, the representative of the Ankara Bar Association who also said that "it is a black day for Turkey, as lawyers have not been prevented from entering the capital through violence". 

"The government intends to form multiple lawyers' associations in the same province, thus creating conflicting associations whose power has been diminished by the old strategy of divide, conquer and rule," the Istanbul Bar Association said in an official statement released by the Stockholm Center For Freedom. This measure would create parallel bodies, with different political tendencies, which would "weaken and politicize" the different bar associations in the country, according to Turkish lawyer Hava Orhon. Unable to gain access to the capital, representatives of these institutions began a sit-in protest, according to the HaberTurk news channel.

Homophobic comments by the head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate to the effect that "homosexuality causes disease" provoked a confrontation in April between the president's party, the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the country's leading bar associations that defend freedom of expression.  However, the estrangement between the bar associations and the government has been a constant over the last few years. Discontent in the country's main judicial authorities led 52 of Turkey's 70 bar associations to boycott the opening ceremony of the judicial year last September, an event attended by Erdogan. The choice of venue was seen by these organisations as a lack of separation of powers and a violation of their code of ethics.

Almost four years after the coup d'état that changed the history of Turkey, more than 91,000 people have been imprisoned and around 150,000 people have been dismissed for alleged links with Gülen or for going against the regime. The arrests have not stopped since then and one of the sectors most affected has been the justice system. In November 2019 alone, 3,926 judges and prosecutors were dismissed from their posts. Of these, more than 500 are in prison. 

In this scenario, Turkey on Monday arrested four people on charges of spying for France. According to an investigation to which the Daily Sabah newspaper had access, the suspects had gathered information on the internal workings of some conservative institutions, religious groups or the country's Directorate of Religious Affairs. These arrests came after French President Emmanuel Macron accused Ankara of being involved in "a dangerous game in Libya" and of going against commitments made at the Berlin conference.