In the presidential election held on October 25 as part of the 128th Ordinary General Assembly of the Istanbul Bar Association, the candidate of the Republican Power Union Alliance, former president Prof. Dr. Ümit Kocasakal, won the election according to unofficial results. In the election, where approximately 68 thousand lawyers had the right to vote and nine candidates competed, Kocasakal's most significant rival was the incumbent president, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özden Kaboğlu.
Following the election, Hüseyin Özbek also shared his assessment. Özbek commented on the results, saying, "The expansionists lost. The Republican alliance won at the Istanbul Bar Association."
"It was not the 'Türkiyeli' lawyers who won, but the Turkish lawyers"
In his statement, Özbek evaluated the race for the Istanbul Bar Association presidency not merely as an election between candidates, but through the lens of debates surrounding the Republic and the "opening" (açılım) process.
Criticizing the use of the term "Türkiyeli lawyer" (a term often used to avoid the word "Turkish") instead of "Turkish lawyer," while noting that there is no hesitation in using the term "French lawyer," Özbek argued that a person who advocates for this approach cannot be the president of the Istanbul Bar Association.
Key remarks from Özbek's statement are as follows:
"The expansionists lost. The Republican alliance won at the Istanbul Bar Association. It was not the 'Türkiyeli' lawyers who won, but the Turkish lawyers.
A person who does not hesitate to say 'French lawyer' but hesitates to say 'Turkish lawyer' and instead says 'Türkiyeli lawyer' cannot be the president of the Istanbul Bar Association!"
Before the election, he had also asked, "Will it be the Bar of the Republic or the Bar of the 'Opening'?"
Özbek had used the following expressions in his pre-election assessment:
"At the Istanbul Bar Association general assembly, lawyers will make a choice between the candidate of the 'New Opening' era, masked by the slogan of change, and the candidate of the alliance formed on the common ground of the Republic; they will choose between 'the Bar of the Republic or the Bar of the Opening'."
News Source: 12punto
