On 15th July 2016, dramatic and bloody events occurred when a faction of the military launched a coup against Tayyip Erdogan’s elected government. In just 24 hours, nearly 240 civilians and policemen were killed and about 1.150 were injured by military factions.
The president's grip on power was seriously challenged by an attempted coup allegedly orchestrated by Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric living in the United States. Yet, he was back less than 12 hours later, some say in an even stronger position than before. And he had out-manoeuvred the plotters.
To his supporters, he has brought Turkey years of economic growth, but to his critics, he is an autocratic leader intolerant of dissent who harshly silences anyone who opposes him.
Since then, more than 65,000 people have been fired or suspended while more than 14.000 remain in Turkish jails including high-ranking governors, police officers, armed forces generals and admirals, teachers, civil servants, and about 3.000 judges and public prosecutors who have been accused collaborating with the coup plotters and/or being directly involved in the power struggle.
We contacted our long-time member Vahit Kaya, from Kaya & Partners, and asked him a few burning questions.
Vahit, what can you tell us about the current situation in Turkey ? How do people manage to go back to their daily lives ?
“Every night, for the past 4 weeks, crowds have been gathering in public places. Many people are seeing the government's actions as a necessity to safeguard the country’s long term future and prosperity.
Noteworthy is the composition of the crowds: you can find all kinds of people, of age, origin and political orientations. The coup attempt has in many respects brought the Turkish people together.
The fact that many Turks, who do not necessarily support the leading political party AKP, did not view the attempted coup as an opportunity to get rid of the government, it even played as a uniting role for most of them.
In particular Turkish private TV channels, newspapers and social media played crucial roles on 15th July and days following. In fact, when state TV channel TRT fell into the hands of coup plotters, most other private channels showed their support to the elected government, which was turning point in the situation and contributed to the coup’s failure. This has shown us all that freedom of media and freedom of speech fundamentals granted by our Constitution, were maintained. Media, which had been subject to a lot of restrictions and repression over the last years, seem to continue to support Erdogan’s elected government and openly condemn Fethullah Gulen & fell coup-plotters”.
Can you tell us a little more on the current state of emergency and its direct impact on legislation ?
Three weeks ago, the Turkish Parliament passed a bill of state of emergency. Therefore, military rules have been applied. The Government wants to pass a lot of new laws and decrees by the Cabinet of ministers without discussing them in front of Parliament. It will be hard to repeal these laws once they are passed and there is no judicial recourse against them due to the fact they are passed under state and emergency.
In fact with the declaration of state of emergency on ongoing decrease of separation of powers continues, legislative (Turkish Grand Assembly) redirects towards executive authority, a balancing judiciary power has only existed on the paper. Consequently, the rule of law is concerned as well.
However, as the current Government and President Erdogan assured people and opposition parties their freedom will not be too limited, despite the current state of emergency.
Nonetheless, others say they strongly feel the restrictions on society, freedom of gatherings, and freedom speech.”
What is your point of view as a Turkish lawyer ?
“As a lawyer and member of Istanbul Bar, I am confident that the Government will not abuse its power as the authority kept saying this situation will only last about three months, as no extension is planned. It means many people are seeing the Government's actions as necessary to safeguard the country’s long term future and prosperity.
Some reports criticised ill-treatment in custody, torture was mentioned too. Furthermore, the access of criminal lawyers to their clients in custody has apparently been denied in many cases.
In addition, as one of the first measures under state of emergency, the duration of pre-charge detention in police custody was extended to 30 days (against four days maximum before state of emergency). This means that the possibility of arbitrary detention for a month of any persona non grata is now legalised. Sadly, even the return of death penalty is now back on the table at National political level.”
Can we go back of the night of the coup itself and how you were affected ?
“The event was like a nightmare. During the first two weeks, to be honest, nobody including myself, was thinking much about business. We cared first about more fundamental issues and on how to support the elected Government.
Business is not suffering as much as the financial market and the economy in general. So far, we can’t really determine and forecast the long-term impact it will have on our business, but we heard from clients that they were very concerned about the situation. Clients are now in a wait-and-see mode. Without drawing shortcuts, this feeling of uncertainty seems to be common across most of Europe, I’m referring to the post-Brexit shock and the shift in the recent elections in Spain or Austria.
However, I don’t wish to be too optimistic. Clients want and need quality advice, especially in these current uncertain times. Moreover, tourism sees the number of visitors in Turkey dropping by 40%, mainly Western and Russian tourists have been put off by the recent political instability and terror attacks at Istanbul airport.
Thus, we expect the attempted coup, which cost over 235 lives in one day, has impacted us all.
This isn't a normal way to live but we all live one day at a time. I believe President Erdogan was smart in managing the crisis. I am not worried about the future of this country and its potential growth. Turkey has a bright future ahead. In all insincerity, Turkey has entered a new age. Turkey does care about UN, NATO, EU and the International Community, and wants to be part of a bigger picture.
We need to remain calm and patient. Delays in Court are expected to last a little longer while the authorities try to take countermeasures. It will be hard to overcome the suspension of more than 3000 dismissed judges and prosecutors. The current recruitment mainly relies on hiring young and unexperienced lawyers or young trainee judges. This will very unfortunately result in a drop of quality and efficiency. The effect of the above mentioned dismissals and arrests we will be noticed especially in court houses, as almost a fifth of all prosecutors or judges was concerned.
Lastly, the state imposes bureaucratic obstacles; several documents need to be handed in, to get a permission to leave the country for public servants, private sectors employees and businessmen.”
Will you be joining us at the Eurojuris International Congress in Prague next 13th to 16th October ? What are your predictions for the months ahead ?
“Well, my lawyer partner Jale Keskin and I are still wondering if we’ll get a visa in order to join you all. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed that the situation will have improved by then.
Anyhow, it is too early to draw definite conclusions yet, the overall scale of the coup-attempt after-math can only be alleged. On one hand, the government understandably investigates against the coup-plotters and holds them accountable for this brutal and undemocratic try to overthrow the government. We, as lawyers, stand against the coup-attempt and any form of undemocratic seizure of power. Yet, the defining principles of our democracy are the fundamental rights and the rule of law. These should not be eroded. The Republic of Turkey, being also legally bound by international agreements, has to maintain democracy and respect of all basic human rights - even under state of emergency”.
