Turkey extends duties for post-coup commission

Jan 23 2022

Turkey’s State of Emergency (OHAL) Inquiries Commission will remain active for one more year with a presidential decree dated Jan. 21.

The commission has processed 16,060 applications as of Dec. 31, 2021, and still has 6,080 applications waiting. Since it started to take applications in May 2017, the commission has rejected 104,643 applications.

The OHAL commission was established to assess compaints by those subjected to expulsions and bans via presidential decrees following the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016. Applicants include dismissed public servants, retired members of armed forces who have had their ranks removed, expelled students, and organisations and institutions that have been shut down.

In October, the commission rejected a series of appeals by academics who were dismissed from their positions in public and private universities after signing a petition to call for an end to violence and clashes between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

December saw a healthcare worker who was dismissed via an OHAL presidential decree commit suicide.

The commission is an obstacle to Turkish citizens pursuing their rights, opposition deputy Mustafa Yeneroğlu said in a statement.

Yeneroğlu, who left the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to join the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) founded by former economy minister Ali Babacan, said the commission should be disbanded immediately.

“The extension of the duties of this commission means that our citizens will not be able to exercise their freedom to seek justice for one more year,” Yeneroğlu said. “The extension is in line with the government’s strategy to keep the country in a constant state and feeling of emergency.”

Under two years of state of emergency following the failed July putsch, 131,922 dismissals were made as a ‘precaution’, the deputy added.

Citizens subjected to human rights abuses would have been able to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) directly if the commission did not exist, Yeneroğlu said, because the OHAL decrees were not subject to judicial oversight.

Dr İbrahim Kaboğlu, constitutional law professor and deputy for main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told daily Evrensel on Saturday that the commission had “turned into a body that rejects the Constitution constantly, on top of blocking the path to seek justice for six years”.

The presidential decrees were used for “fundamental changes to the rule of law” in areas unrelated to the coup attempt or the state of emergency, Kaboğlu said.

Persons affected by decrees have had their dignity and reputation tarnished beyond repair, and were unable to defend themselves in court, he added.

“Via the commission, those affected are deprived of their right to access courts. (Authorities) avoid confronting them. The affected persons are unable to speak a single word before the commission that decides on their rights that have been taken away,” the deputy continued. “The commission was established unlawfully and prevents appeals to justice.”