A PORTRAIT OF A NATIONALIST LAWYER: KEMAL KERINCSIZ
Nilufer Zengin
BIA
Jan 24 2008
Turkey
Kemal Kerincsiz, the nationalist lawyer taken into custody in relation
to a secret weapons arsenal found in Umraniye, Istanbul in June
2005. Kerincsiz is a brand name among nationalists.
Kemal Kerincsiz is a lawyer and founder and administrative board
member of the "Lawyers’ Union."
Stopped Armenian conference He first came to public attention when he
filed a complaint to stop a conference entitled "The Ottoman Armenians
in the Period of the Declining Empire" scheduled for May 2005. The
conference finally took place on 23 September, but only because the
organisers were able to circumvent the ban by hosting the conference
at a venue not mentioned in the ban.
Nationalists from the Great Union Party (BBP) and the Workers’ Party
then stood in front of the conference venue to throw eggs and tomatoes
at the participants.
Demanded more severe punishment for Hrant Dink When Agos
editor-in-chief Hrant Dink was sentenced to a suspended sentence
of six months imprisonment for "denigrating Turkishness" in 2005,
Kerincsiz appealed against the decision, demanding a more severe
punishment. In his letter of appeal, Kerincsiz argued that "the
defendant has a tendency to commit crimes" and that "his actions have
created a wave of anger in Turkish society."
Filed complaint against Orhan Pamuk In the same year, Kerincsiz filed
a criminal complaint against writer Orhan Pamuk for "denigrating the
army." He also appeared on television, arguing that the controversial
Article 301 was a "necessity."
Intimidation in court When Hrant Dink, Agos journalist Aydin Engin,
section editor Arat Dink and responsible manager Serkis Seropyan were
taken to court as defendants in a case of "attempting to influence
the judiciary" on 16 May 2006, they were verbally and physically
attacked at the court hearing. Kerincsiz and his associates applied
to become joint plaintiffs in the case. Coins and pens were thrown
at the defendants and their lawyers. Kerincsiz called for the judge
to be withdrawn, accusing him of bias. The prosecution refused both
the application for joint plaintiff status and a change of judges.
Assault at TESEV book launch On 6 July 2006, the Turkish Economic and
Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) launched its book "Facing Forced
Migration: The Construction of Citizenship after Displacement in
Turkey". Kerincsiz and seventeen others verbally abused some people
and some people were physically attacked.
Speaking to bianet after the attack, which he himself only watched,
Kerincsiz said: "We do not approve of violence. Do not connect us
to violence. This is not the inquisition trial that you can judge
without trial here. The things TESEV said at this meeting were the
same as the statements of the PKK. Naturally, the citizen’s reactions
are justified reactions."