The Istanbul Bar Association is going to an extraordinary general assembly.

After a lawsuit was filed at the Istanbul Civil Court requesting the dismissal of Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu and the board members, a significant development occurred.

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY DECISION

Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu addressed the media and made statements regarding the developments. Kaboğlu announced that the bar would hold an extraordinary general assembly on February 23.

Kaboğlu stated, "After we took over the management on October 24, we started working on October 25. Like all of us, I have taken the attorney's oath 50 times in 47 meetings in the last two and a half months, adhering to law, ethics, the constitution, and professional ethical principles, after 40 years since the second half of the 1970s." He continued, "On December 22, we encountered a statement regarding a public prosecutor's investigation. Our statement on December 22 was within the framework of protecting human rights and upholding the rule of law, stemming from the relevant articles of the attorney's law. Then, when we were summoned to the courthouse on January 7, we did not give a statement or make a defense. We only made a declaration."

"INTERFERENCE FROM OUTSIDE THE CONSTITUTION"

Kaboğlu also stated, "The investigation was entirely contrary to the attorney's law and the constitution, and we declared this. We applied to the Ankara Administrative Court to annul the approval given later by the Ministry of Justice. However, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, not only conducting an investigation that is contrary to the constitution and the law, has also filed a lawsuit in the form of an indictment to terminate the management determined by the common will of the member lawyers of the Istanbul Bar on October 20. This has been presented in a manner contrary to the constitution, the attorney's law, and the law. It is an external interference in the bar managements, which finds its source in Article 138, paragraph 2 of the Constitution," he said.

WHAT HAPPENED?

A public investigation was initiated against Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu and board members based on the allegation that "fugitive defendants with membership in the terrorist organization PKK were praised" in a statement published on social media.

In a statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was noted that the statement announced on December 21, 2024, from the official social media account of the Istanbul Bar Association praised fugitive defendants Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who are members of the terrorist organization PKK.