عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Turkish Police Block Lawyers Marching to Ankara against Bill

Lawyers gather in front of the Justice Palace to demonstrate against the police stopping senior lawyers marching to the capital Ankara, in Istanbul, Turkey June 22, 2020. (Reuters)
Lawyers gather in front of the Justice Palace to demonstrate against the police stopping senior lawyers marching to the capital Ankara, in Istanbul, Turkey June 22, 2020. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Turkish Police Block Lawyers Marching to Ankara against Bill

Lawyers gather in front of the Justice Palace to demonstrate against the police stopping senior lawyers marching to the capital Ankara, in Istanbul, Turkey June 22, 2020. (Reuters)
Lawyers gather in front of the Justice Palace to demonstrate against the police stopping senior lawyers marching to the capital Ankara, in Istanbul, Turkey June 22, 2020. (Reuters)

The heads of several Turkish lawyers’ associations on Monday began a sit-in demonstration after police blocked the group from marching to the capital, Ankara.

The heads of Bar Associations from various cities embarked on a march to Ankara last week in their robes to protest government plans to amend laws regulating lawyers and their associations, including the way they elect the association’s regional chairs.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party has proposed changes to the associations’ election system that it says will make it more democratic and increase representation from smaller cities.

But the lawyers marching say the move would pave the way for the formation of government-friendly associations.

Most bar associations in Turkey are highly critical of the government and its human rights record and say the judicial system has descended into chaos with lawyers jailed, defenses muzzled and confidence in judges and prosecutors destroyed.

Police blocked the group at a main highway leading into the city, briefly sparking scuffles between the lawyers and officers.

The lawyers — who had aimed to reach the mausoleum of the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — then began a sit-in protest, HaberTurk news channel reported. Ankara-based lawyers who arrived to greet the arriving group also joined the protest.

“Our march to the capital of this country is being stopped for no reason and is completely unlawfully,” Erinc Sagkan, head of Ankara’s bar association, told reporters.

“It’s a black day for Turkey as its lawyers are blocked from walking into the capital city through violence,” he said.

If the draft bill becomes law, lawyers would also be allowed to form additional bar associations in provinces with more than 5,000 registered attorneys. New associations would need a minimum of 2,000 members.

Lawyers marching say the proposal would limit their associations’ power of oversight. For example, they may hesitate to penalize members who violate ethics if that were to push their association below the minimum membership threshold, they say.

“The government is aiming to form multiple bar associations in the same province, thus creating conflicting associations whose power has been dimmed, through the old strategy of divide, conquer and rule,” the Istanbul Bar Association said in a statement.

The head of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, Metin Feyzioglu, however, questioned whether the marching lawyers were motivated by the legislation or were instead targeting the judiciary, which critics say the government has harnessed in recent years to target political rivals. Erdogan’s AK Party denies that charge.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Suspected North Korean Hypersonic Missile Exploded, South Korea Says 

Contrails believed to be created by a North Korean missile are observed over seas off Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)
Contrails believed to be created by a North Korean missile are observed over seas off Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)
TT
TT

Suspected North Korean Hypersonic Missile Exploded, South Korea Says 

Contrails believed to be created by a North Korean missile are observed over seas off Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)
Contrails believed to be created by a North Korean missile are observed over seas off Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Yonhap via AP)

A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, a development that comes as North Korea is protesting the regional deployment of a US aircraft carrier for a trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its capital region around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It said the missile was fired toward the North’s eastern waters, but the launch ended in failure.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff later told South Korean journalists that the missile blew up as it flew over the waters of the North's eastern coastal Wonsan city. It said the fragments of the missile were scattered in the waters, up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) away from the launch site. No damages were immediately reported.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff suspected the weapon is a solid-fueled hypersonic missile. It said Wednesday's launch spewed larger amounts of smoke than normal launches because of a possible engine fault. It said the test was probably aimed to improve the capacity of a hypersonic weapons system.

The contents of the background briefing was shared with foreign media.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said it condemns the North's launch though it didn't pose an immediate threat to the US territory or its allies. It said the US commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan “remain ironclad.”

Japan’s Defense Ministry said earlier Wednesday that it also detected a suspected ballistic missile launch by North Korea.

Since 2021, North Korea has performed a series of hypersonic missile tests in an apparent bid to penetrate its rivals' missile defense shields. But foreign experts question if North Korean hypersonic vehicles have proved their desired speed and maneuverability during test-flights.

In recent years, North Korea has also been pushing to develop more weapons with solid propellants, Such propellants make launches harder to detect than liquid-propellant missiles, which must be fueled before liftoff.

The North’s reported launch also came as the rival Koreas are engaged in Cold War-style, psychological campaigns such as balloon flying and loudspeaker broadcasts in past weeks.

South Korea said Tuesday night that North Korea floated huge balloons carrying trash across the border for a second consecutive day. South Korean media reported Wednesday that about 100 North Korean balloons with bags of waste papers eventually fell on South Korean territory.

North Korea has conducted a series of trash-carrying balloon launches toward South Korea since late May in what it calls a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists flying political leaflets via their own balloons. On June 9, South Korea briefly restarted propaganda broadcasts from its border loudspeakers for the first time in years in response. South Korea's military said Monday said it was ready to turn on its loudspeakers again.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived in South Korea on Saturday and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol boarded the carrier on Tuesday — the first sitting South Korean president to board a US aircraft carrier since 1994.

Yoon told American and South Korean troops on the carrier that their countries’ alliance is the world’s greatest and can defeat any enemy. He said the US carrier is to leave Wednesday for the South Korea-US-Japan drill, dubbed “Freedom Edge.” The training is aimed at sharpening the countries’ combined response in various areas of operation, including air, sea and cyberspace.

North Korea’s vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, on Monday called the US aircraft carrier’s deployment “reckless” and “dangerous.” North Korea has previously called major US-South Korean drills invasion rehearsals and reacted with missile tests.

Seoul officials said the upcoming South Korea-US-Japan training is meant to strengthen the three countries' response capabilities against North Korea's evolving nuclear threats at a time when the North is advancing its military partnerships with Russia.

During a summit in Pyongyang last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a deal requiring each country to provide aid if attacked and vowed to boost other cooperation. Observers say the accord represents the strongest connection between the two countries since the end of the Cold War.

The United States and its partners believe North Korea has been providing Russia with much-needed conventional arms for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.

North Korea’s reported missile launch is its first weapons demonstrations since Kim Jong Un on May 30 supervised the firing of nuclear-capable multiple rocket launchers to simulate a preemptive attack on South Korea. The drill came days after North Korea’s attempt to put its second spy satellite into orbit ended in failure, with its rocket carrying that satellite exploding in mid-air soon after liftoff.

Since 2022, North Korea has sharply increased the pace of weapons tests to increase its nuclear attack capabilities to cope with what it calls a deepening US military threat. Foreign experts say North Korea eventually aims to use its larger nuclear arsenal to wrest greater concessions from the US when diplomacy resumes.