Negotiations at the Parliamentary Justice Commission continue regarding the draft bill submitted to parliament by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the coalition partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). While 12 articles of the draft bill were accepted by the Parliamentary Justice Commission, the opposition's motions were rejected. 

 

The opposition, who made evaluations on the draft bill continues to raise objections. The bill submitted recently to the parliament amid massive protests of the bar associations aims to decentralize the bar associations by permitting the establishment of alternative associations in İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir, which represent nearly half of all lawyers in the country.

 

'YOU LEAVE PEOPLE BREATHLESS'

 

As the 12 articles of the much debated bill were accepted by the Parliamentary Justice Comission, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Iğdır MP Habib Eksik stated that the submission of such a draft pill during the pandemic is so sarcastic that it would be a subject in one of the black humor books of Aziz Nesin. Eksik said, "Which problems will the government solve via this bill? None of them. They faced opposition of the 98% percent of all the bar associations, this is such a shame."

 

"The persecution of the oppressors is a dark well, and you throw this country into that dark well, leaving people breathless. Grand National Assembly of Turkey should hear the voice of bar heads who follows these negotiations as we speak and an we must all give a joint effort for this draft bill not to be submitted to the General Assembly of the Parliament," said HDP Adana MP Tülay Hatimoğulları and added, "I think everybody knows that this is a certain kind of political attituted aiming at political revenge which has nothing to do to solve the problems of the lawyers or to make up the deficiencies of the professional bodies."

 

'FETÖ PROJECT'

 

Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Saliha Sera Kadıgil  also reacted to the Comission's decision to accept the 12 articles of the government's draft bill stating that the draft bill is a project of 'FETÖ', Fethullahist Terrorist Organization which is held responsible for the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Kadıgil said, "When we say this, you get irritated, but we are not saying that 'FETÖ wrote this down and gave the proposal to you. This draft bill was proposed by FETÖ back in 2013, which was again faced reaction from the bars."