Union of Turkish Bar Associations Chair Feyzioğlu: The title deeds must be in the people’s hands

Union of Turkish Bar Associations Chair, Prof. Dr. Metin Feyzioğlu, jurist and political scientist Prof. Dr. Süheyl Batum and psychiatrist Dr. Semih Dikkatli participated as speakers at the panel entitled ‘The Constitution’ organised jointly by the Uşak Bar Association, Atatürkist Thought Association and Eğitim İş education union’s Uşak branch. At the press conference held prior to the panel, Uşak Bar Association Chair, Gürcan Sağcan, Attorney-at-Law, stressed that the constitutional bill would be submitted to referendum but the majority of the people had no knowledge of the contents of the constitutional amendment. Jurist and political scientist Prof. Dr. Süheyl Batum, for his part, pointing out that constitutional amendment would be voted on very shortly in Turkey, said, ‘This matter is being debated in many places, but information is not being given in an informed manner as to its contents, what the mooted articles will bring and do away with and its principles.’

‘THE PRESIDENT WILL BE REDUCED TO THE LEVEL OF A POLITICAL PARTY’S GENERAL CHAIR’

Metin Feyzioğlu, referring to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations’ position on the constitutional amendment from a legal perspective, said, ‘The president, who prior to the constitutional amendment had to represent the entire Turkish people and was expected, especially in times of crisis, to gather the people 100% around him, is reduced to the level of a political party’s general chair. From the supreme level occupied by president where he has to embrace the entire people, he is being brought down to a position where he will only embrace provincial and sub-provincial representatives of his own political party and, on the other hand, will spurn and shun everybody else. This is undesirable if it is considered that Turkey is under attack from separatist, destructive forces and the global forces behind them. A country that is clearly and immediately threatened with partition must not weaken its national unity, but, on the contrary, strengthen it. And, to strengthen national unity, the president must remain in a position where he embraces the entire Turkish people.

‘IF THERE IS NO LEGAL CERTAINTY, INVESTORS WILL NOT COME’

Feyzioğlu, stating that the Union of Turkish Bar Associations has concluded that the constitutional amendment will bring permanent instability to Turkey in political and economic terms and saying that political stability cannot be achieved in a country whose people and territory is divided and which is under the threat of partition, said, ‘To achieve political stability, there is a need for the people to be able to gather around and walk arm in arm with an impartial president in national matters. As to the reason the constitutional amendment will bring economic instability, if investments lack legal certainty in society and the state, domestic and foreign investors will not come, they will not put up money, set up factories and make investments. An indispensable condition for investments to be made is that investments are subject to legal certainty. The constitutional amendment demolishes legal certainty. Over who is guilty and who is innocent, who is right and who is wrong, and who is a creditor and who is a debtor, the president gets to decide.’

‘HEAD OF STATE AND POLITICAL PARTY HATS’
Feyzioğlu, stating that under the constitutional amendment the president will have two hats, commented, ‘The president being the general chair of a political party and the right to veto laws vested in the president will lead to a situation in which the president puts on his political party general chair hat and sets out in his own hand who will be MPs. Then he will put on his head of state hat and decide whether to promulgate the laws that parliament brings before him. If he does not promulgate them and sends them back to parliament, the members of parliament will need to attain unanimity to enable them to pass and promulgate that law. This, in effect, is a unanimity that is unattainable. The president will select MPs, but MPs will be unable to engage in any activity apart from receiving salaries, sitting in rooms and using the state’s telephones and riding in its cars. The wish is to turn parliament into an ineffective assembly that will be a pale imitation of today’s parliament. This means leaving the people without representation in parliament.’

‘IF THE SUPREME BOARD OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS IS ATTACHED TO THE PRESIDENT, INVESTORS IN THE COUNTRY WILL FLEE’

Feyzioğlu, asserting that the constitutional amendment will lead to thirteen of the fifteen members of the body that appoints judges and prosecutors being appointed by the president, said, ‘The president will appoint six directly, while the remaining seven members will be settled on in parliamentary commissions and the general assembly. As the ruling party will have the majority in parliament, the president will now take off his head of state hat and put on his political party general chair hat and the selection of the remaining seven members will be at the beck and call of the president. In Turkey, when it comes to imprisoning or acquitting those who are right or wrong, who are guilty or innocent and who are on remand or on bail and vindicating or denying the claims of those who are creditors or whose divorce has been decreed, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors heading the panel that will decide all of these things will be attached to the president. This is unacceptable. Just as no investor will come to such a country, investors in such a country will flee.’

‘JUDGES IN ONE OF HIS POCKETS AND MPS IN HIS OTHER POCKET’

Union of Turkish Bar Associations’ Chair, Prof. Dr. Metin Feyzioğlu, stressing that a presidential system in which he has the judges in one of his pockets and MPs in his other pocket is not democratic, ‘If the president has the judges in one of his pockets and the MPs in his other pocket, this business is known as authoritarianism or dictatorship in the world. In countries in which there are separatist and partitionist movements, the world recognises the organisations that are behind this to be terrorist organisations. If a country is not democratic and if the head of state instructs judges and controls MPs and parliament, under such conditions, separatist movements are classified as conducting wars of liberation and being liberation movements in international law. God forbid that the mooted constitutional amendment comes to pass or else the separatist terrorist organisation that is targeting us, all our resources, our people and our very existence will open representations in all parts of the world, and will become capable of receiving intelligence and arms openly and with no need for concealment from the world’s most influential countries. There are examples in the world. Because Assad is a dictator, the Free Syrian Army or opposition that stand against Assad are accepted in the world today as being entitled to sit at the same table as Assad. The Astana meeting and Geneva process are the evidence of this. The peshmerga movement that emerged at the time of the ousted leader Saddam was seen by the world as being not a terrorist organisation but a liberation movement. A line was drawn at the 36th parallel and the peshmerga was protected where it was based from the Iraqi central government. Saddam was a single man who had put the judges in one of his pockets and the members of the Iraqi parliament in his other pocket. Turkey has being a democracy to thank for Turkey having resisted all operations and all separatist scenarios and for Turkey having maintained national unity and togetherness.

‘IF POWER PASSES TO A SINGLE PERSON, THE SEPARATIST TERRORIST ORGANISATION WILL HAVE A FIELD DAY’

Feyzioğlu, asserting that if Turkey ceases to be a democracy and all powers are concentrated in one person, that day will be a field day for the separatist terrorist organisation, said, ‘If power in Turkey is vested in one person, the separatist terrorist organisation will become capable of obtaining legitimate support everywhere and on that day they will be openly and legitimately supplied with the intelligence support that is today given clandestinely. Certain countries will openly and legitimately provide the explosive and munitions support that they do so clandestinely. And this will amount to Turkey standing alone against all the countries in the world. All the world’s countries will line up behind the separatist terrorist organisation and Turkey will remain totally alone. I am giving this warning from here and I see it as being my duty of honour and citizenship to inform the Turkish people. Let nobody else create a different impression. Let nobody waste Turkey’s time with hollow words and slogans. I call out to the government and opposition and all political parties in Turkey: “Not everybody may know everything. I am speaking in realisation of this. Let them listen to those who know. Turkey today has no room to make or be lead into error. Let us not permit irreparable damage to arise through collaboration. Turkey is not embarking on an election. In April, the matter before us is not which government and which president will rule Turkey. Will the people hold Turkey’s title deeds in their hands or will it permit person a or b to put them in their pocket in the future?” I believe that everyone will think about the future and take the most correct decision.’

CALL TO JUDGES

Feyzioğlu, mentioning that prior to 2010 there was a group of judges that was conducting politics from the rostrum and saying that they did not want judges who conduct politics from the rostrum, continued, ‘Prior to 2010 there was a group of judges that was conducting politics from the rostrum and we were uncomfortable about this and stated that what they were doing was wrong the way things stood at that time. Then we saw judges passing decisions under the political chain of command and we did not wish for this, either. We could not stomach the judges who took briefings from the General Staff and sold out their consciences in the 28 February process, either. We also fought against the judges who sold and surrendered themselves to the Fethullah Gülen brotherhood. We are certainly combatting the judges who are at the beck and call of those who wield political power. We want judge-like judges. The Union of Turkish Bar Associations’ recommendations as to the requirements for a trustworthy judicial system to be established in Turkey are in official records. After this constitutional amendment has been rejected, we consider it to be our citizenship duty to convey them once more to our government and his excellency our President and to work together on them. But, the constitutional amendment before us is disastrous because it makes judges and prosecutors dependent solely on Turkey’s head of state. The title deeds must remain in the people’s hands.