Ankara,(ST)-Turkish lawyers from various Turkish states protested at the entrance to the capital, Ankara, today, after the authorities of Recep Tayyip Erdogan regime prevented them from entering on foot to go to the union’s headquarters and to parliament to protest against Erdogan’s dictatorial policies aimed at tightening his grip on the unions and the judiciary in the country.
The head of the Istanbul Bar Association, Mehmet Durakoglu, said that they would not stop the sit-in unless the Erdogan authorities allowed them to follow the walk on foot to reach the union’s headquarters in Ankara and from there to Parliament.
Lawyers union leaders in 80 states started their marches last Friday from their states towards Ankara, in denunciation of Erdogan’s policies aimed at changing the union law with the aim of forming more than one union in each state after the supporters of the ruling Erdogan Justice and Development Party failed to win the elections of opposition-controlled unions.
Lawyers also denounced Erdogan’s efforts to control the judiciary system the by appointing his loyalists as judges and prosecutors who implement his instructions and issue unfair judgments against journalists and all those who oppose Erdogan, politicians, intellectuals, academics and even lawyers.
Haifaa Mafalani