TBB To Host Alternative Judicial Year Ceremony With Wide Participation

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), which was not invited to the official ceremony held by the Supreme Court of Appeals to mark the new judicial year, will hold an alternative ceremony to be widely attended by bar associations from 38 countries.

The TBB will host a landmark “2015-2016 Judicial Year Ceremony” in Ankara on Sept. 5 with the participation of the heads of bar associations from 38 countries as well as three leading international bar associations: the International Association of Lawyers (UIA); the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE); and the European Bars Federation (FBE).

The ceremony, which will also be attended by all bar associations in Turkey, will be concluded with attendees heading to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

The TBB was not invited to the official ceremony marking the new judicial year held on Sept. 1 and the ceremony marking the 147th anniversary of the Council of State held in May.

The exclusion of the TBB from official ceremonies came after a previous exchange of words between TBB head Metin Feyzioğlu and the then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last May during the ceremony held on the occasion of the 146th anniversary of the Council of State.

Erdoğan interrupted a speech in Ankara by Feyzioğlu, saying his speech was political and was full of untruths after Feyzioğlu questioned the government's handling of the aftermath of a 2011 earthquake in the southeastern province of Van.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)