At least 19 bar associations representing lawyers across Turkey, including its three largest cities, have said they will boycott an annual ceremony for the judiciary because it will take place in the grounds of the presidential palace.
Many said the location signals a lack of separation of powers.
The independence of Turkey’s judiciary has been hotly debated in recent years, especially since a crackdown on the judiciary and other state bodies following the July 2016 coup attempt and after the country switched to an executive presidential system in June last year.
Critics say courts are under the influence of politics. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have repeatedly said the judiciary is independent and makes its own decisions.
According to Reuters’ checks of tweets and statements by the individual bar associations and their heads, at least 19 said they would not attend the ceremony, organised by Turkey’s top appeals court, the Court of Cassation, for the start of the judicial year at the Presidential Congress and Culture Centre in Ankara on September 2.
The 19 bar associations boycotting the ceremony, including those for the cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, represent roughly 77 per cent of lawyers registered in Turkey’s 79 provincial bar associations as of December 31, 2018, according to data from the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB).
Mehmet Durakoglu, head of the Istanbul Bar Association, said the executive presidential system was damaging the separation of powers.
“At a time when discussions [on the separation of powers] are ongoing with the utmost intensity ... the choice of location for the opening ceremony is not a simple matter,” he wrote in a letter posted on his association’s website.
The ceremony was held at the Presidential Congress and Culture Centre in 2016 and again in 2018.
The TBB said on Saturday that its head, Metin Feyzioglu, would attend the ceremony and make a speech, as is customary.
State-owned Anadolu news agency quoted the presidency of the Court of Cassation on Saturday as saying that most of the bar association heads who were invited had said they will attend.
Accusations that the Court of Cassation was under political influence were unjust, it said.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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