'Impunity policy encourages aggressive behavior'

Speaking to ANF about the racist massacres and attacks on Kurds, Amed Bar Association President Atty. Nahit Eren stated, "The judiciary and law enforcement's impunity policy encourages aggressive people."

The AKP-MHP fascists' attacks and massacres against Kurds are becoming more frequent. Attacks have occurred in Afyon, Marmaris, Ankara, Manavgat, and Konya in the last month. The Dedeogullari family, who were attacked by an AKP-MHP fascist group in Konya's Meram district on May 22 and were in intensive care for days, were murdered last week by the same group.'Impunity policy encourages aggressive behavior.

The AKP-MHP fascists' attacks and massacres against Kurds are becoming more frequent. Attacks have occurred in Afyon, Marmaris, Ankara, Manavgat, and Konya in the last month. The Dedeogullari family, who were attacked by an AKP-MHP fascist group in Konya's Meram district on May 22 and were in intensive care for days, were murdered last week by the same group. The racists who murdered seven people, including two women, were freed in the attack on May 22.

Atty. Nahit Eren, the President of the Amed Bar Association, assessed the attacks and massacres against Kurds for ANF.

Atty. Eren stated that this year, systematic attacks took place one after the other against Kurds who go to the west as seasonal workers during the summer months, recalling that there are specific regional attacks against these Kurdish citizens. Atty. Eren stated that this systematic killing began with the murder of an HDP member in İzmir and spread to Afyon, Marmaris, Ankara, and Konya.

THE COMFORT BEHIND THE ATTACKS

Atty. Eren continued emphasizing that the spoken language between political parties in Turkey toughens the political climate: "The beginning of the conflict process in Turkey in recent years, particularly the coup attempt, destroyed the dialogue environment between the country's new system parties. There exists a constant criminalization and marginalization in the language. We believe that this language is reflected in society. When we look at the incident of 7 people being murdered in Konya, what is most concerning is that the attack in May was not prevented. At the time, we, as the Bar Associations, issued a statement. We were immediately targeted. Of course, there may be legal disputes between people. However, we must question our comfort in the face of these attacks. Could they have carried out this attack if it wasn’t for their Kurdish identity? We'd like to know the answers to these questions."

CAN'T MEASURES BE TAKEN?

Atty. Eren remarked that they questioned whether the state forces fulfilled their responsibilities in relation to the attacks. "There is a dangerous trend. Imagine the same family had been attacked back in May. They were injured, and remained in intensive care, but no precautions or measures were taken. Finally, they have been killed in a grave attack. We've seen the footage and made our conclusions about the perpetrator. His kinship with the previous attack's offenders was also revealed. I believe we would have turned a blind eye to these events if we had not viewed them as solely judicial cases and not taken steps to prevent more serious events from occurring. Why did law enforcement fail to take precautions despite previous complaints about this incident? Has  no information reached the local authorities or the police? These are the points in question," he explained.

THE IMPUNITY POLICY

Atty. Eren pointed out that the judiciary's impunity policy is one of Turkey's major problems, and made the following evaluations: "As legal organizations and bar associations in the region, we have tried to keep this policy of impunity on the agenda for years. We've seen this policy a great deal, especially during the 1990s violations of human rights. We have also seen impunity in cases where public officials are the offenders in recent years. In such cases, the policy of impunity began to be applied not only to public officials but also to civilians who are perpetrators.

For instance, when a party worker named Deniz was assassinated in İzmir, remember how law enforcement approached the offender. Of course, as lawyers, we advocate for a reasonable mode of detention. However, the style of law enforcement in other events is not at all like that. In such cases, law enforcement takes a discriminatory approach. Similarly, the judiciary uses the same policy. People gain courage as a result of the judiciary's and law enforcement's policy of impunity."

CHAOTIC ENVIRONMENTS FEED FASCIST EMOTIONS

Atty. Eren concluded his speech by arguing that, particularly after the Konya massacre, civilians in western cities taking up weapons and conducting road checks had led Turkey into a very dangerous situation. He continued: "The forest fires that have occurred in recent days have also increased racist attacks. But here's the problem: even people with power and influence in society had speculative discourses when there was no accountability or consistency. In the video, we even see a law enforcement officer assemble people and caution them not to believe speculative news.

Imagine that people are crossing the street with shotguns and conducting identity checks. License plates have an impact on people. Such chaotic situations, unfortunately, feed fascist and nationalist attitudes. Of course, law enforcement should play a role, but political leaders and other party officials should make statements that will reassure the public. These circumstances should be addressed as soon as possible. Because those pictures of traffic closures and identity checks are not acceptable in a state of law."