Turkey’s Justice Ministry is seeking to amend a law that allows anyone with legal capacity to file a lawsuit in the country, either personally or through a lawyer, to restrict government opponents living in exile from exercising this right, which could potentially result in favorable outcomes for them, Turkish Minute reported.
The ministry is pressing ahead with an amendment to Turkey’s Code of Civil Procedure, which allows Turkish citizens living abroad as well as those residing in Turkey to file lawsuits in the country through their legal representatives.
Under the proposed amendment, people facing arrest warrants in Turkey will be required to file their lawsuits in person and follow up on their cases themselves. The amendment will effectively make it impossible for government opponents living in exile to seek legal remedies in Turkish courts.
Cumhuriyet journalist Barış Terkoğlu, who wrote about the proposed amendment in his column on Thursday, said the damages won by former national football player Hakan Şükür, who is living in exile in the US and faces an arrest warrant in Turkey, has prompted the ministry to seek an amendment to the relevant law.
According to the journalist, Şükür won damages on many occasions in Turkish courts after he filed lawsuits against people through his lawyer in Turkey for violating his personality rights or defamation after those people insulted him on social media platforms, calling him a “terrorist” or a “Fetö member.”
Şükür, a follower of Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who died in the US in October, was subjected to unprecedented legal and social pressure in Turkey due to his links to Gülen’s faith-based movement. He had to flee the country in 2015 to avoid a government crackdown on the Gülen movement that intensified following a failed coup in July 2016.
The Turkish government accuses the movement of masterminding the failed coup and labels it as a terrorist organization, calling it “Fetö.” The movement, known for its educational activities and intercultural and inter-religious dialogue around the world, strongly denies the accusations.
The damages won by Şükür in Turkish courts were reportedly brought to public attention by pro-government lawyer Burak Bekiroğlu, who petitioned Turkey’s Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) to impose sanctions on judges who ruled in favor of Şükür on the grounds that they were involved in “the financing of terrorism.” The lawyer asked for the launch of investigations into those judges, their suspension from the bench and eventual disbarment.
As part of a large-scale crackdown on the movement’s members, an arrest warrant was issued for Şükür, while the government confiscated his homes, businesses and bank accounts in Turkey. Şükür’s elderly father was also arrested and imprisoned for several months following the coup attempt and sentenced to prison. Sermet Şükür was subjected to maltreatment and lost 40 kilograms during his time in prison, according to his lawyers.
Lawyers outraged at proposal
The Turkish Justice Ministry’s plans aiming to deprive exiled dissidents of the ability to seek legal remedies in Turkish courts has alarmed the legal community, which interpreted the move as yet another example of the abuse of the law.
Ali Yıldız, a Brussels-based lawyer and founder of The Arrested Lawyers Initiative, described the proposed amendment as “scandalous” as judicial authorities face mounting criticism in Turkey for exercising their judicial powers to punish government opponents at the expense of the law.
Yıldız said the proposed amendment further proves that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government has been gradually establishing a “dual legal regime” since the failed coup in 2016 — one that favors supporters and another that targets opponents.
“There is one legal framework for ‘good citizens’ and another for ‘enemies of the state.’ This proposal clearly violates the constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR], and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR], effectively denying ‘enemies of the state’ the right to access the court,” he told Turkish Minute.
Lawyer Nurullah Albayrak told the TR724 news website that the proposed amendment seeking to prevent exiled dissidents from seeking legal remedies in Turkish courts would be a “perfect example” of the abuse of the law in Turkey.
He said that even those who have contributed to the erosion of the rule of law in the country could not have anticipated that it would deteriorate to the point where judges who make impartial rulings, without considering the identity of the complainant, could face sanctions.
Turkey’s judiciary has been under intense criticism for its lack of independence and transparency, as reflected in its ranking of 117th out of 142 countries in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index published in October 2024.
The Turkish government launched a witch-hunt against Gülen movement members following the coup attempt, investigating more than 700,000 people on terrorism or coup-related charges due to their alleged links to the movement.
Tens of thousands of people who were arrested in the post-coup crackdown and convicted of terrorism have been released from prison over the years after serving their sentences.
Thousands of other Gülen followers who had to flee Turkey to avoid the massive crackdown on real and perceived Gülen followers in the aftermath of the coup attempt have been granted asylum in Western countries that do not recognize the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization and allow their activities within their borders.
