Turkey’s Erdogan Plots Power Grab Over Lawyers’ Organisations

Kemal Vuraldogan, a former legal counsellor to the Ankara Bar Association and a lawyer in Ankara, said Erdogan's demands for changes to their election systems had nothing to do with current dispute between the Bar Association and the religious authorities.

"The ruling Justice and Development Party government does not want to see any professional organisation that can criticize its irrational policies and projects," he said. "The AKP only wants to see organisations that are dependent and supportive of itself and its policies," Vuraldogan added.

President determined to 'consolidate all power':

Union of Turkish Bar Associations president Metin Feyzioglu in Ankara, Turkey. Photo: EPA-EFE/TUMAY BERKIN

The current election system in local bar associations is that the list that receives the highest number of votes from member lawyers presides over the bar.

At national level, delegates from the local bar associations vote for a president. Every delegate represents 100 lawyers.

Vuraldogan said there were two main reasons why Erdogan wants to change the system.

"First, he wants to keep Metin Feyzioglu as president of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, TBB, since he has turned from an arch-enemy to an ardent Erdogan supporter in the last two years especially," he said.

"Erdogan knows that under the current election system, Feyzioglu cannot be re-elected, as he lost the support of major bar associations, such as Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Diyarbakir," he added.

"The second … reason why Erdogan wants to change the system is because he wants to consolidate all power in his hands. They undermine, harm and defame every institution that is not controlled by the government," Vuraldogan continued.