Istanbul Bar Association head says comments about immutable constitutional articles ‘misunderstood’

The newly-elected president of the Istanbul Bar Association Prof. İbrahim Özden Kaboğlu has said that his remarks about the constitution’s immutable articles were “taken out of context and misunderstood.” Kaboğlu had said that the articles could be “amended positively.”

Tuesday October 22 2024 04:51 pm

Duvar English

The newly-elected Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu on Oct. 21 stated that his previous remarks about the Turkish constitution’s unchangeable articles were “taken out of context” with political consideration. He had said that the unchangeable articles were open to “positive” amendments.

Kaboğlu stated in a social media post, "The technical explanation I made in response to the false narratives about me during the election process was taken out of context, dragged into a political arena, and misunderstood."

The bar association president said that “a defamation campaign” was launched against him following a brief assessment aimed at legal professionals. “My technical explanation in response to the false narratives spread about me during the election process was taken out of context, dragged into a political arena, and misunderstood,” Kaboğlu added.

He continued, “It is neither correct nor in good faith to associate my statements with those of individuals and institutions that have consistently been in conflict with the founding will.”

In his first speech following his election as president of the Istanbul Bar Association on Oct. 20, Prof. Kaboğlu also touched on the new constitution debates, stating that the unchangeable articles could be “amended positively,” just as was done in 1995 and 2001.

Positive amendments referred to the removal of racist remarks and the addition of human rights considerations according to Kaboğlu. “In 1995, the racist expressions in the Preamble were removed. In the 2001 amendment, the definition of the 'Republic based on human rights, secularism, and democracy' was included in Article 14. This brought back the 'state based on human rights' concept that had been envisioned in 1961, pushing it forward,” he noted.

Some individuals, including mayors Mansur Yavaş and Ekrem İmamoğlu from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), criticized Prof. Dr. Kaboğlu's statements.