Top Turkish lawyers complete protest march after 24-hour standoff
Initially denied entry to Ankara, several dozen heads of Turkish bar associations completed a march against a controversial proposal Tuesday after camping overnight on the capital’s outskirts.
ISTANBUL — Diyarbakir Bar Association chair Cihan Aydin marched about 50 kilometers (31 miles) in three days before he was stopped Monday with several dozen bar association heads on the outskirts of Ankara.
Over the weekend, the group began a nationwide protest march against a proposed bill that would change election laws for bar associations. Protesters planned to end the march at Ankara’s Anitkabir, the mausoleum for Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, but were blocked from entering the city by police. Following brief scuffles, the lawyers camped out in the streets surrounded by police barricades.
“Everything went smoothly until we reached Ankara,” Aydin told Al-Monitor. He added, “We were prevented from talking to press … visitors weren’t allowed in, and we weren’t allowed to have anything like seats, or chairs, or blankets or tents for the rain.”
The standoff continued for more than 24 hours, drawing press coverage and widespread condemnation from human rights advocates before the bar association chairs were permitted to reach their destination Tuesday afternoon. Reflecting on the events, Aydin said the police intervention helped propel the protest into the national discourse.
