Public Lecture: The Future of the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Turkey

Research Turkey’s upcoming event, for this Friday is to tackle the nature of law in Turkey. The public seminar titled “Supremacy of Law or the Law of the Supreme? The Future of the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Turkey” to be delivered by Hüseyin Aygün (Lawyer and Former MP for Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Turkey), Professor Bill Bowring (Barrister & Director of the LLM/MA in Human Rights in Birkbeck, University of London), and Associate Professor Gökhan Günaydın (Lawyer and Former MP for Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Turkey). This event will take place on Friday, 18 November, at Room K 2.31, King’s College London, Strand Campus WC2R 2LS  between 18.30 and 20:30. This lecture will be kindly chaired by Dr. Simon Waldman (King’s College London).

The press release states that since the state of emergency was declared in Turkey in the wake of the coup attempt on 15 July 2016. Tens of thousands of civil servants and military officers have been arrested or dismissed in the purges that followed the failed coup attempt. Hundreds of civilians, academics, professionals, and businessmen have been arrested or taken into custody. Turkey is now essentially run by ‘statutory decrees’ (decrees having force of law) (KHK) that apply as laws. Critics argue that these statutory decrees are being used by the AKP to get rid of its opponents and mark the end of the ‘rule of law,’ and ‘democracy’ in Turkey. On the hand, AKP government ministers often refer to similar measures in France and in other parts of the worlds in order to argue that ‘state of emergency’ and such decrees as well as the new policy implementations are compatible with democracy and are necessary in the fight against Fettullah Gülen’s ‘parallel state’. In this event, Hüseyin Aygün, Professor Bill Bowring, and Associate Professor Gökhan Günaydın will speak about the present and the future implications of the ‘state of emergency’ measures, and ‘executive orders’ for human rights in Turkey and analyse what is actually happening in Turkey.