PodcastBar heads launch sit-in after police prevent them from entering Ankara to end their Defense March
Bar association heads have launched a sit-in after police prevented them from entering the capital Ankara to end their Defense March. According to Mehmet Baran Selanik from İzmir Bar, a police officer punched Antep Bar head Bektaş Şarklı. Police also tried to detain Ordu Bar head Haluk Murat Poyraz, but lawyers prevented police from doing so.
Duvar English
Bar associations say their march to Ankara is 'against darkness'Some 60 bar association heads have launched a sit-in after police prevented them from entering the capital Ankara to end their Defense March, as footage showed brawls.
The bar heads wanted to enter Ankara as part of their march that they launched on June 19 against increasing pressure from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The move came after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP intensified its efforts to amend the law on changing bar associations' election systems in what critics say an effort to increase the number of pro-government figures in bars.
The issue came to the agenda after Ankara Bar Association slammed Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) for its remarks targeting LGBT individuals on Islamic grounds. The bar released a statement against the homophobic remarks, which was followed by Erdoğan calling for a change in their election system.
Several bar heads went live on Twitter to show police barricades and brawls.
BARO BAŞKANLARINA POLİS MÜDAHALESİ
— Mersin Barosu (@MersinBarosu) June 22, 2020
Mersin Barosu Başkanı Av. Bilgin Yeşilboğaz’ın da aralarında bulunduğu Baro Başkanlarının, Eskişehir yolunda Ankara’ya girişleri emniyet güçlerince hukuksuz bir şekilde engellenmektedir. pic.twitter.com/xamImMZJk3
A police officer battered Antep Bar head Bektaş Şarklı.
Savunma susmadı SUSMAYACAK#Kavilizm #SavunmaYürüyor
— Ömer Kavili (@omerkavili) June 22, 2020
Polisin saldırı anı pic.twitter.com/Yog4aRnOzJ
60’a yakın baro başkanın yürüyerek Ankara’ya girmesine izin verilmiyor. 3 günlük yürüyüşümüzün bir amacı da yurttaşın tümüyle yasaklanan barışçıl gösteri ve yürüyüş hakkına dikkat çekmekti. Artık bir şey söylemeye zaten gerek kalmadı, manzara ortada. pic.twitter.com/IjsEzQDHKG
— Cihan Aydın (@CihnAydin) June 22, 2020
Police also tried to detain Ordu Bar head Haluk Murat Poyraz, but lawyers prevented police from doing so.
Baro Başkanlarının Ankara'ya girişi polis müdahalesiyle engelleniyor. Zorbalıklarınızı tanımıyoruz. Bu zorbalıklar devam etmesin diye yürüyoruz, adalet gelene kadar savunma yılmayacak. #SavunmaAnkarada
— Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği (@chdgenelmerkez) June 22, 2020
ÇHD Ankara Şube canlı yayında:https://t.co/CSyoI71mrZ
The scenes were slammed on social media, with Twitter users asking the government the motive behind preventing bar heads from entering the country's capital.
İktidar iyice kontrolünü kaybetti.
— Çetin Osman Budak (@CetinOsmanBudak) June 22, 2020
Baro Başkanlarını Ankara'ya sokmamak ne demek ?
Kendinize gelin!!!!#SavunmaYürüyor pic.twitter.com/BYleKw7cuW
Bar heads chanted slogans against being prevented from entering Ankara.
"The defense won't keep silent," they said.
Baro başkanlarının Ankara'ya girişi polis müdahalesiyle engelleniyor? pic.twitter.com/ercwZGaPPz
— Yol TV (@YolTV) June 22, 2020
At around the same time, Turkish Bar Association head Metin Feyzioğlu visited Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Turkish Republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, alongside bar heads of Afyon, Ardahan, Iğdır, Ağrı, Konya, Elazığ, Sivas, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Çorum, Yozgat, Kütahya, Edirne, Samsun, Erzurum and Kahramanmaraş.
Muğla Bar head Cumhur Uzun commented on Feyzioğlu's visit, saying that he is making discrimination among bars.
