ANKARA - Following the approval of the much-debated bill that would allow decentralization of bar associations by the Turkish Parliament’s Justice Commission, bar heads who have been protesting in Ankara return back to their provinces.
Bar associations put their signatures as memorabilia on the benches they have been sleeping on their all-night-long sit-in outside the parliament. Leaving Ankara for now, bar heads take the return path back to their provinces.
Bar heads who plan to return to Ankara after the draft bill of arrives at the General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament, plan to continue their protests in their own provinces. Each bar association will continue their demonstrations and meetings in their own provinces, as they will carry their protests to the yards of the courthouses in the forms of sit-ins, marches, forums and press releases.
The bar associations launched a Defense March to the capital Ankara to protest the government’s proposed bill. Police prevented them from entering Ankara and they managed to enter the capital only after more than 24 hours of a continuous protest. As the Governor’s Office banned all the demonstrations and public events in the capital city referring to the “coronavirus measures" just one day before the commission began discussing the bill, bar associations were prevented from holding rallies and marches in Ankara. Despite all bans and police blockade the bar heads launched a sit-in outside the parliament building and then a massive demonstration at the yard of the Ankara Courthouse.
'WE HAVEN'T SAID THE LAST WORD YET'
İzmir Bar Association president Özkan Yücel shared on his social media account, "“The case is not over yet, the last word belongs to the defense and we haven't said the last word yet. We return to our cities preserving our dignity; to refresh ourselves and to fight stronger with love and friendship..."
'WE RETURN FROM ANKARA, NOT FROM OUR PATH'
"We return from Ankara, not from our path," said Aydın Bar Association president Gökhan Bozkurt on the speech in the video message he shared on social media. "I want to express to our people and colleagues that all the bar associates share the same opinion with me, nothing is over, we still want to believe that there are deputies in the Assembly, we will see that they would respect the will of the people, nothing is over, everything is just beginning. We will not give up."
'THE BARS WILL HAVE THE LAST WORD, NOT THE BARONS!’
Aksaray Bar president Erhan Toprak said, "These multiple bars will witness the "barons of the bars" just as we witnessed the barons of the tenders and barons of the drugs. But no one should worry; the bars will have the last word, not the barons!"