Turkey’s Bar Associations Become the Latest Target of Erdogan’s Iran-Inspired “Reform”

The Turkish parliament passed a controversial law on July 11 to allow the creation of multiple bar associations in each of Turkey’s 81 provinces, amending the existing system that stipulates only one association per province. This move by Turkey’s ruling Islamist-ultranationalist coalition is its latest attempt to bring bar associations and their national umbrella organization under greater government control by institutionalizing an Iran-inspired system that will favor pro-regime lawyers.

A lawmaker from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed in June that the new law is necessary because “bar associations were no longer able to function properly following a 13-fold increase in the number of lawyers in Turkey.” The AKP purports the reforms will lead to a more democratic and pluralistic system while addressing the dysfunctional aspects of the current system. Unimpressed by such promises, 78 out of 80 bar associations signed a statement opposing the reforms and organized protests ahead of the vote in parliament.

In reality, the reforms are aimed at reducing the power of Turkey’s staunchly pro-secular bar associations and increasing the relative weight of associations in smaller provinces, where Erdogan has greater sway. Under the existing system, Turkey’s three biggest bar associations, located in the country’s most populous cities – Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir – elect 221 of the 477 delegates to the national umbrella association. The new law will bring the total number of delegates down to 26. This move to disempower the largest associations is retaliation for their vocal criticism of the government’s breaches of human rights and the rule of law.

During deliberation of the bill in parliament, an opposition lawmaker accused the new law of creating “parallel bar associations.” By allowing multiple bar associations in provinces with over 5,000 registered lawyers, the new law will split them along political lines. That, in turn, will allow prosecutors and judges to favor defense teams comprising members of pro-government bar associations, punishing lawyers who belong to independent bar associations.

The Turkish government’s move appears to have been modeled after the Islamic Republic’s machinations to strengthen its hold over the Iranian judicial system. Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Iranian bar association was highly regarded both at home and abroad, in a manner comparable to its associates in countries such as France and the United Kingdom. The revolution led to growing pressure on independent lawyers, whom the theocratic government suspected of being secular and pro-Western. Since then, the Islamic Republic has had a history of appointing pro-government clerics to top judicial positions, none of whom had any formal legal training or academic background in law. In 2001, the Iranian regime created a parallel body of lawyers called the Legal Advisors of the Judiciary, which works directly under the supervision of the judiciary. In May, the Islamic Republic prepared a draft bill aiming to further undermine the country’s independent bar association by creating yet another parallel institution, namely, “the Supreme Council for the Coordination of Lawyers’ Affairs.”

Given the disastrous state of Iran’s justice system, critics are right to fear where Erdogan’s judicial reforms will lead. The creation of multiple bar associations will further erode the rule of law and due process in Turkey and significantly weaken Turkish dissidents’ ability to defend themselves against the government-controlled judiciary’s politically motivated charges. The growing convergence between Erdogan’s Turkey and Iran should be a wake-up call to Western policy makers and analysts who expect Ankara to provide a counterweight to the Islamic Republic’s malign influence in the Middle East and beyond.

Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Philip Kowalski is a research associate. For more analysis from Aykan, Philip, and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Aykan and Philip on Twitter @aykan_erdemir and @philip_kowalski. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.