Message of struggle for law and justice from the Lawyers' Union

The Lawyers' Union issued a written statement regarding April 5, Lawyers' Day.

The statement included the following expressions:

“Happy day of struggle to us! 

We are marking this year's April 5 Lawyers' Day—which we have long declared to be a day of struggle—during a difficult yet hopeful period in which our country's progressive accumulation, including intellectuals, laborers, and of course lawyers, with young people at the forefront, is rising up.

Our citizens, the vast majority of whom are young, are being detained, arrested, and subjected to physical and psychological pressure for voicing their demands for justice in order not to lose their hope for the future. Furthermore, the right to vote and be elected is being directly interfered with through the arrest of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayor and the long-standing practice of appointing trustees to municipalities. However, neither arrests, nor unfair trials, nor the system's tools of oppression can silence us. Because no matter how much the search for rights, the struggle for justice, and the demands for equality and freedom are suppressed in these lands, they grow all the more.

The struggle of citizens is an important step not only for their individual rights but also for the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, social justice, and the future of the country as a whole. For the only solution to stand against unjust and arbitrary arrests, attacks on freedom of expression, and oppressive policies targeting all segments of society is a determined and organized struggle.

In this process, the arrest of Istanbul Bar Association Board member Atty. Fırat Epözdemir and the judicial processes aimed at removing the Istanbul Bar Association's management also show us the dimensions of the threats to rights and freedoms in our country. The judicial intervention against the Istanbul Bar Association essentially threatens the historical mission of bar associations and the independence of the legal system. This intervention is not directed solely at the Istanbul Bar Association but is an attempt to create pressure on all bar associations and lawyers—that is, on the defense—and is the clearest indicator of the damage to judicial independence, the guarantees of the defense, and the principle of the rule of law.

For all these reasons, we are marking April 5 again this year not just as a day of celebration, but as a day of struggle. In the face of ever-increasing pressure, while the guarantees of the defense are ignored and the professional honor and independence of lawyers are under threat, we remind everyone again: Neither baseless accusations nor arbitrary arrests can stop this struggle.

As the Lawyers' Union, we will continue to fight to defend the rights of our intern friends and colleagues, to protect their right to live a life worthy of human dignity, and to ensure that our citizens' right to a fair trial is effectively upheld. We will fight to be the guarantor of the right to defense and an independent judiciary against the effects of the ever-increasing economic crisis, working conditions below the poverty line, and the reality that the legal profession is not viewed as a constituent element of the judiciary.

Today, in the name of defending social justice and protecting rights and freedoms, we reiterate our call to all our colleagues: This struggle is not just ours, it is the struggle of us all. We invite you to add strength to this struggle. 

Happy day of struggle to us!”