Sefa Yılmaz re-elected as president of the İzmir Bar Association

The Ordinary General Assembly of the İzmir Bar Association concluded with presidential elections that drew significant interest. In the race featuring four candidates, the incumbent president and candidate of the Contemporary Lawyers Group, Sefa Yılmaz, emerged as the winner.

ELECTION RESULTS

The voting process, held at the Kültürpark Celal Atik Sports Hall, began at 09:00 and ended at 17:00. A total of 6,713 valid votes were cast in the election. While Sefa Yılmaz was re-elected as the President of the İzmir Bar Association with 2,517 votes, Banu Aşkın İnce, the candidate for the İzmir Lawyers Movement, received 2,027 votes; Sercan Altınordu, the candidate for the Republican Lawyers Group, received 1,992 votes; and Tacettin Çolak, the candidate for the Militant Lawyers Group, received 177 votes.

Speaking after the election, Sefa Yılmaz stated the following:

“I always state that the history of the İzmir Bar Association spans 116 years. The Contemporary Lawyers Group has been a part of this history for approximately 50 years and continues to be so. Today, we held our elective General Assembly. As of yesterday, there were truly very poor remarks. Hate speech was used against the Contemporary Lawyers Group. However, the victory of the Contemporary Lawyers Group in this election today is an indication that malicious language and hate speech are no longer accepted by the lawyers of the İzmir Bar Association. The rhetoric of all three groups was not very different. It was merely propaganda aimed at the Contemporary Lawyers Group. They did this until the late hours of the night. But as I said in the last election, the lawyers of the İzmir Bar Association will not allow hate speech to pass. The Contemporary Lawyers Group, which takes a stand for human rights, the rule of law, women, children, and nature, and supports a secular, democratic, social state of law, has succeeded in securing seats on all of the İzmir Bar Association's boards.”