AED- EDL firmly condemns the revocation of the Istanbul Bar President İbrahim Kaboğlu, and the dissolution of the Board for alleged acts of terrorist propaganda.
This dissolution follows the judicial procedure initiated on January 14, 2025 by the Istanbul Prosecutor General in retaliation for the statement issued by the Bar Association on December 21, 2024 condemning the deaths of journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were allegedly killed in a Turkish drone strike in northern Syria.
AED-EDL strongly recalls that professional organisations, including the Bars and Law Societies, have the right and duty to express their views on matters of public interest, in particular when they concern the rule of law and human rights.
This dissolution is an instrumentalization of legal proceedings by the Turkish authorities with the sole aim of preventing the Istanbul Bar Association from exercising its fundamental right to freedom of expression in accordance with international instruments and the principles governing the legal profession.
The court decision is a clear attack on the independence and functioning of the Istanbul Bar Association, an institution that plays together with the professional organisation a vital role in safeguarding human rights and defending the rule of law in Turkey.
AED-EDL urges the Turkish authorities not to implement this decision which clearly violates article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers
The AED-EDL express its full support and deepest solidarity to all the member of Istanbul Bar Association and its President who are once again facing these measures, which are a flagrant violation of international human rights law and the principles governing the legal profession.