23.05.2026 22:00
The President of the Turkish Bar Association, Erinç Sağkan, visited the CHP Headquarters and met with Özgür Özel. In a joint statement made after the meeting, Özel emphasized the importance of the declarations issued by more than 60 bar associations following the absolute nullity decision. Sağkan also called out, “It is the fundamental responsibility of everyone who believes in democracy, law, and the Republic in this country, regardless of their views, to oppose this.”
The President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), Erinç Sağkan, following the annulment decision regarding the 38th Ordinary Congress of the CHP, visited the CHP Headquarters today with a delegation accompanying him. Sağkan and his delegation, who met with CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, conveyed their feelings of solidarity. The CHP delegation included Gül Çiftci, Deputy Chairman responsible for Election and Party Legal Affairs.
ÖZEL THANKS OVER 60 BAR ASSOCIATIONS THAT ISSUED A STATEMENT
Following the meeting, Özel and Sağkan made a joint statement. CHP Leader Özel spoke as follows: “Today, as you have been following, we first held our closed group meeting at 11:00 AM. Afterwards, we have been holding our PM meeting since 2:00 PM. Our PM meeting will continue, but first, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), Mr. Alpay Azap and the valuable members of the Central Council paid a solidarity visit. Then, Mr. Erinç Sağkan, the valuable president of the TBB, and its valuable managers paid a visit. From the moment this unlawful process began, the fact that over 60 bar associations united in a joint statement and the evaluations made by the TBB were extremely valuable. The fact that they made this visit immediately upon their return to Ankara, fresh off the road, is very meaningful for us. On behalf of the CHP, I once again respectfully salute the TBB, all affiliated bar associations, and the very valuable lawyers practicing the legal profession, in the person of Mr. Sağkan.”
SAĞKAN EMPHASIZES THE RULE OF LAW STATE
Erinç Sağkan also spoke as follows: “I attach great importance to this solidarity visit. Because Turkey is unfortunately experiencing a process of rapidly moving away from the principle of the rule of law, and is being rapidly dragged into a climate where the principle of the supremacy of law has completely turned into the law of the powerful. In fact, for a very long time, especially the non-implementation of the Constitutional Court decisions in favor of Can Atalay and Tayfun Kahraman; the non-implementation of the European Court of Human Rights decisions on Selahattin Demirtaş and Osman Kavala, while moving Turkey away from the line of the rule of law, especially the operations against elected mayors in Istanbul, along with the violation of the right to personal liberty and security, also violate the right to vote and be elected. We are in a very negative picture, with judicial practices, severe rights violations in investigation processes, the disregard of the presumption of innocence, the complete violation of the right not to be defamed, the conduct of investigation processes where individuals are forced into confessions and effective remorse, completely disregarding the basic principles of criminal law, and unfortunately, these processes continuing identically with violations of the right to a fair trial at the prosecution stage.
“EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN LAW MUST OPPOSE THIS DECISION”
This negative picture, I must regretfully state, unfortunately shows the effort to design politics through the judiciary to the whole of Turkey and completely destroys public trust in the law. While we must trust the judiciary in protecting our fundamental rights and freedoms, we are unfortunately living in a climate where the judiciary itself restricts these rights and freedoms. Now, the process of judicial intervention in the CHP, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, has been added to this. Look, this is not a process you can evaluate with legal debates. I want to draw attention to a problem far beyond debates about the application of electoral politics, election law, whether civil courts of first instance have jurisdiction over congresses where election boards act as supervisory and oversight boards, and the like. They want to create a perception that others can now determine the Chairperson of this party, chosen by its elected delegates with their own votes, through the judiciary. This essentially means the end of multi-party democracy. This is a process equivalent to placing a dynamite charge at the base of the democratic system. It is the most fundamental responsibility of everyone who believes in democracy, believes in law, and believes in the Republic in this country, regardless of their views, to oppose this.”
“WE ARE HERE TO FULFILL OUR RESPONSIBILITY”
We were here today to fulfill that responsibility. We are children of this country, and this country is not without owners. The CHP is one of the most important political institutions of this country, and its Chairperson is elected by the people who are devoted to this party. For that reason, we came here today to reaffirm that we will stand on the side of democracy and the rule of law, as always, against this effort to design politics through the judiciary. And we shared these views with our esteemed Chairman.”