Supreme Court of Appeals questions bar head’s stance in Turkey

The CHP and TBB previously announced that they wouldn’t be joining the ceremony on Sept. 1, as it will be held at the presidential palace in Ankara under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“It should be known that judicial independence and impartiality is being protected with great care from our institution,” read the statement released by the Supreme Court of Appeals on Aug. 29, adding that the ceremony will be held in a congress hall “owned by the state and the people.”

“We have a hard time understanding how holding the conference in a congress hall owned by the state and the people rather than a meeting hall of a hotel, which can have a limited capacity and problems with security, will harm judicial independence and impartiality,” the statement added. 

It will be first time that the ceremony has been held at the Presidency and Erdoğan will deliver a speech at the gathering.

The TBB board gathered on Aug. 26 and decided not to participate in the ceremony at the Presidency, while bars in Ankara, Istanbul and the Aegean city of İzmir also took the same decision.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu stated the party disapproved of holding the judicial court year opening ceremony at the Presidency, in an interview with CNN Türk on Aug. 27, and criticized the decision on the grounds that it would undermine judicial independence.