Law professor or rock star? Fighting for the rule of law in Istanbul

Representing the Law Society, I attended the Haliç Congress Center, on the Istanbul waterfront, braving heavy snowfall in the city.

I joined more than 60 Turkish bar presidents, thousands of lawyers from the Istanbul Bar, representatives of bars from numerous European countries, Turkish trade unions, journalists and parliamentarians, on 23 February 2025 to support the Istanbul Bar Association.

We were kept waiting (and waiting) until, finally, the Istanbul Bar Association president İbrahim Kaboğlu, entered the hall, flanked by his entourage. The throng of Turkish lawyers cheered and chanted, as if welcoming a rock star to the stage.

The diminutive 74 year old white-haired law professor is an unlikely rock star but he proceeded to fire up the audience further. In his address, he emphasised commitment to the rule of law and the constitution.

He called for the release of the arrested Istanbul Bar Association board member Fırat Epözdemir, whose seat was left empty on the stage.

Kaboğlu stated, "For the past two months in Turkey, there has been a rehearsal on how to dismantle the legal defence system through judicial manipulation".

The crowd cheered and more football style chants rang out in the hall. It seemed a long way from the average Law Society meeting.

The president of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, Sağkan, invoked the memory of murdered Diyarbakır Bar Association president Tahir Elçi, which was met with an ovation.

Sağkan stated that lawyers derive their strength from the people, not from authority and stressed, "We do not submit, we do not bow down." He added, "The legal defence will not be silenced."

Then, flanked again by their entourages and to more cheering and chanting, they were gone. ‘Kaboğlu had left the building.’

The lawsuit calling for the dismissal of the Istanbul Bar Association’s board and the organisation of new elections, was filed following a press statement the association made in response to the killing of journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin in Syria on December 21 2024.

The Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office issued an indictment demanding the appointment of a new board using "terrorism" charges.

The Istanbul 2nd Civil Court of First Instance set the trial date for March 4.

No elections were held at the congress and strong support for the board was expressed.

The extraordinary congress was attended by all candidates who ran in the last elections organized in October 2024.

All the other lawyer groups who competed in the elections also attended to congress and showed their support.

It was an extraordinary but truly uplifting spectacle. In the UK, lawyers sometimes have battles against government, but not to the extent or with the same sense of jeopardy of Istanbul.

To see hundreds of presumably normally mild-mannered lawyers, all as one, cheering and chanting their unlikely rock star law professor, sees law and our profession rising above the individual and acting collectively to fight for the rule of law.

Little can be more important than that – it’s a fight for all of us to partake in, across Turkey, Europe and the world.