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(ANKARA) – Ankara Bar Association President Mustafa Köroğlu said that the “Great Defense Rally” to be held in Ankara on April 27 by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) will be held in order to emphasize that bar associations are important for justice as they represent independent defense, and that in recent years, lawyers and offices have become economically unstable. He stated that it was organized because it led to a great deadlock.
TBB will organize a “Great Defense Rally” in Ankara Anıtpark on April 27, “to defend the honor of the profession and labor against violence and drudgery.” Stating that bar associations and lawyers from 81 provinces of Turkey will participate in the rally, Ankara Bar Association President Mustafa Köroğlu explained the reason for organizing the rally to ANKA News Agency as follows:
“This rally is actually organized because bar associations are not an ordinary professional organization, they also represent independent defense, therefore they are important for justice, but in recent years, lawyers and bar associations have been dragged into a great deadlock, especially economically. At the same time, the attacks that lawyers face while doing their profession, “We are doing this because our colleagues are identified with their clients and are subjected to violence and murder for this reason, and they also face serious economic problems but no solution is produced.”
“THIS Rally IS TO SAY ‘JUSTICE FOR LAWYERS'”
Pointing out that law faculties have been opened in many universities in Turkey and that thousands of graduates of these schools cannot find a job after receiving their lawyer’s license, Köroğlu said, “We are holding this rally because they face great unemployment after receiving their lawyer’s license. We are holding this rally because they are forced to work for wages even below the minimum wage.” We are holding this rally today because many young people cannot get their licenses and open offices in this clampdown, cannot do their job, and have to move away from their dreams and ideals.
We are holding this rally to say ‘Justice for lawyers too’ and today citizens should stand by the lawyers who have had to defend the rights of citizens and be their voice for years and respond to the voices of lawyers. That’s why I especially want to see all my colleagues registered with the Ankara Bar Association there. “I think I will be very happy and honored to have them there and to raise our voices together, and that I will have the honor of saying ‘Years later, I was there too that day’.”
