Interim ruling for TÜSİAD President Orhan Turan and High Advisory Council President Ömer Aras! Travel bans lifted

Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) President Orhan Turan and TÜSİAD High Advisory Council (YİK) President Ömer Arif Aras, who signed a statement containing criticisms of the government's policies at the Ordinary General Assembly on February 13, appeared in court.

Aras and Turan arrived at the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan for the first hearing of the case in which they are being tried on charges of "publicly spreading misleading information and attempting to influence a fair trial" due to their speeches.

Orhan Turan and Mehmet Ömer Arif Aras, who are being tried without arrest, and their lawyers were present at the hearing held at the Istanbul 28th Criminal Court of First Instance.

During the hearing, Mehmet Ömer Arif Aras, who is being tried without arrest, stated that his monthly income is 900 thousand liras during the identity verification process.

"ACCUSATIONS FALL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION"

Aras said, "I am appearing before a court for the first time. The mentioned accusation is baseless and without evidence. Although I have been working at the same institution for 38 years and my address is fixed, I was brought in by force under police escort. The accusations leveled against me fall within the scope of freedom of expression. The association's charter is regulated in accordance with the law. The council of this association meets 3 times a year at certain intervals. I have the right to speak 3 times a year. I made the speech that is the subject of the trial on February 12 in my capacity as president. What I said has been clipped at the beginning and the end. The speech I made is within the scope of ordinary activities. It has no other purpose. It is an explanation of the booklets titled 'Proposals' prepared by TÜSİAD. In my speech, I emphasized increasing trust in merit and the law."

Continuing his defense, Aras said the following:

"The way figures are formed is more valuable than the figures themselves. By law, I do not mean just the definition of tax, customs, trade, and banking. The definition of law also includes the predictable application of both social and written rules that affect the definition of individuals. The economy is shaped by law. Interest rates and movements in exchange rates in the markets are examples of this. The reference point for expectations and predictions is what is experienced. For this reason, the field of economy includes phenomena that have a counterpart in society. With these points I have explained, I emphasized in the speech that is the subject of the case in the field of economy that it cannot be thought of separately from law and politics.

Therefore, it is not correct to ask me, 'Why did you make such a speech?' It is not correct for the trial to be conducted in this way. In the indictment, it is said that I committed a crime by cutting the beginning and end of my speeches. People see the rule of law as arrests and detentions. These actions are also conveyed to foreign investors and the foreign press as information notes, and they have an impact on investors."

INTERIM RULING ISSUED

An interim ruling was issued in the case regarding TÜSİAD executives. The travel ban for TÜSİAD President Orhan Turan and YİK President Ömer Aras was lifted.

The next hearing in the case will be held on September 23.

THEIR WORDS HAD CAUSED CONTROVERSY

The General Assembly meeting of TÜSİAD, the umbrella organization of big capital in Turkey, was held yesterday at a hotel in Beşiktaş, Istanbul.

The words of TÜSİAD President Orhan Turan and YİK President Ömer Aras, who made the opening speeches of the meeting, had been discussed in the public eye.

Stating, "Expulsion decisions are made against lieutenants for the crime of indiscipline, but in many events that cause public outrage such as earthquakes, fires, harassment, femicide, and work accidents, either the perpetrators are not found or they are released in a short time," Turan had drawn attention to the recently increasing trustee appointments and detentions and arrests of journalists.

TRUSTEE APPOINTMENT POLICY WAS ADDRESSED

Ömer Aras, who emphasized that trustees were appointed in place of elected mayors and drew attention to recent arrests, touched upon the pressure on the media and said:

"We can say that these events, which followed one another in a very short time, created anxiety in society and shook confidence. We also see that a gangrenous problem, such as detention becoming the rule rather than the exception, is not solved even if the laws change. We see in the acquittals and releases that come years later how meticulously detention and judicial control decisions, and even detention orders, that will deprive a person of their freedom, even for a day, should be made."

REACTION FROM THE GOVERNMENT

There was a reaction from the government to the criticisms from the TÜSİAD management. Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç, who shared on his social media account, made the statement, "Let no one have any doubt that we will respond in the strongest way within the framework of the law, as we have done until today, against any attempt to interfere with the legal order."

AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik had used the expressions, "TÜSİAD should make an effort to leave its bad record on democracy behind."

News Source : İHA