Lawyer Bekir Berk: a praiseworthy man - a column on Today's Zaman

Lawyer Bekir Berk: a praiseworthy man

1 July 2012, Sunday
BERK ÇEKTİR - Today's Zaman


If there was a Nobel or Oscar prize for lawyers, the late Bekir Berk would be one of the first people to receive it.
Earlier this month was the 20th anniversary of his passing. I would like to write about this awesome man, this brilliant lawyer and man of law, Bekir Berk.

Berk was born in 1926 in Ordu and moved to İstanbul with his family in his early years. He studied law at İstanbul University and graduated from law school in 1951.

He defended more than a thousand cases from 1958 to 1972. He traveled all around Turkey, appearing before courts in various cities. Sometimes even judges were surprised to see him, thinking he could not make it on time; he would have a court case in İstanbul on Monday, another in Rize on Tuesday, a third in Çanakkale on Wednesday and fourth in Bitlis, all during a harsh winter with limited means for travel. The judge of a Bitlis court wanted to check his ID as he thought it impossible for Berk to have made it to court on time.
Bekir Berk was a dedicated lawyer, fully committed to his cases. He had no fear -- no threat or pressure could make him even think about stepping back. One of his most impressive experiences took place at a court in Ankara. Berk had just presented a very good defense in his characteristic, sharp way. The prosecutor, Mr. Esenel, knew Berk had no one in which he could trust or whom he could ask for help but his belief. Anyway, the prosecutor was concerned that Berk had secret political power behind him so he could be harsh and strong against the court, which had the full power of the government at that time. The prosecutor asked a direct, straightforward question: “Bekir Berk, how dare you talk like this to the judges and to me? You must be counting on someone, on something!” Berk opened his briefcase. The prosecutor expected him to pull out a file, a dossier. Berk took out a piece of white cloth of the variety in which Muslims are covered and buried. He threw it on the prosecutor's desk and said, “This is what I count on.”

Such a fearless man, he would carry around his shroud being seriously threatened. The prosecutor was frozen, unable to speak, and sat down. Berk folded the white cloth with care, put it back in his briefcase and continued his defense. Those who may guess what the atmosphere is like after a military takeover can imagine the greatness of this gesture.

My personal experience with Bekir Berk is very interesting. It happened long after his passing. I was involved in a very complex case as party counsel. The case was so complex and of such importance that we had to seek the legal opinions of different scholars, including a retired judge and honorary president of the high court. This gentleman was a top scholar. Due to his position and advanced age, it was very difficult to get a hold of him, let alone a legal opinion. Through good relations, we managed to get an appointment. The contact who put us in touch with this gentleman informed us that he had granted us the appointment because of the good relations we had established through professional correspondence and a good reference, but that he would only listen to the case and was unwilling to give a legal opinion on the matter. We went to his office for the meeting with questions in mind, thinking this was still an issue we could solve.

He was a very old person and apparently did not want to get involved in this very complex and time-consuming case. He listened to us with patience. When we finished presenting the case, he asked me to stay in the meeting room. While the clients waited outside with their fingers crossed, this gentleman said: “Under normal circumstances, I would not give you a legal opinion on this matter. This is a complex, time-consuming and tedious task. When you reach my age, you will understand this feeling better. However, I will do it because I sympathize with you. You would never guess the reason. I was a young judge in Erzurum for a criminal court. There was a case against the students of Said Nursi. My origins and political views are based on Marxist ideology and were by all means absolutely the opposite of those of Said Nursi and his companions, fellows and students. One day, a lawyer showed up and presented a fantastic defense. It was epic. I was shaken, I was so impressed, and his name was Bekir Berk. I sympathized with him that day. I sympathize with you today, only because you have the same name as he did and you remind me of him.” Although I did not deserve to be reminiscent of Bekir Berk, I was greatly touched. Even though he has passed, I feel Bekir Berk's shadow and grace are still here with us. I am so proud to have the same name as he did, although I am not even close to achieving what he was able to.

Bekir Berk stopped at nothing for his belief. When he later had to present his own defense, he stated it was very difficult to understand how he could be accused of a crime without the existence of a law defining this crime. He stated that he had defended hundreds of people in the past in terms of the freedom of thought and that those people had been found not guilty, with legal experts and judges all admitting his defense was correct. He underlined that the case against him was not actually a case against a person but against a religion. He was found guilty of violating former Article 163 of the Constitution, which limited freedom of thought; he had been detained after prayer, arrested for reading books by Islamic scholar Said Nursi and was imprisoned for a year due to political pressure on the court.

I regret not having come to know him earlier; I first met Bekir Berk in a very unfortunate way. I came to know him through the condolences being offered on the day of his funeral, June 15, 1992, when I was writing university exams for law school. I wish I had had some time to visit him. We still have much to learn from his perseverance and work ethic.

NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living and doing business in Turkey. Please kindly send inquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.com. If a sender's letter is published, names may be disclosed unless otherwise expressly stated by the sender.


Source: Today's Zaman
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