Turkish lawyers boycott judicial ceremony at presidential palace

ISTANBUL: Bar associations across Turkey boycotted a ceremony on Monday at the presidential palace attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticising a lack of rule of law in the country. Fifty-two of 79 provincial bar associations declined the invitation from the Supreme Court of Appeals, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported, marking the start of the judicial year. “Fundamental rights and freedoms in Turkey, especially freedom of expression, have been annihilated,” Ankara’s bar association said at a protest attended by scores of lawyers. The “independent functioning of the legislature, executive and judiciary doesn’t prevent them from acting together” to further the president’s mission outlined in the constitution, said Erdogan at the ceremony. Erdogan became Turkey’s first executive president last year. His sweeping powers include choosing members of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), responsible for judicial appointments. “Regarding the separation of powers, most of the accusations against (the executive presidency) are baseless,” he said. Bar associations, starting from the Aegean province of Izmir, announced their boycott in August citing a lack of judicial independence. “You will emphasise over and over again that you do not receive orders or instructions from anyone,” the Izmir body said in August, addressing the head of the court. “But where will you do this? In the hall of the palace where the head of the executive lives.” Speaking at the palace on Monday, Erdogan said, “This place doesn’t belong to me... it’s the ‘house of the people,’ and all institutions have the right to use it.” Lawyers and judges were among hundreds of thousands purged or arrested under the state of emergency that followed a failed coup in July 2016.  — dpa