Turkish parliament passes associations oversight law
Turkey's parliament passed a good regulation on Sunday that could crank up oversight of foundations and associations and, according to rights groupings including Amnesty International, dangers limiting the freedoms of civil contemporary society organizations. The law allows the interior minister to replace members of organizations who are being investigated for terrorism charges, as the interior ministry can also apply to courts to halt the groups' activities beneath the new regulation. International organizations may also be included beneath the law and penalized appropriately.
Parliament approved the expenses - drafted by President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Get together, which holds a good parliamentary majority using its nationalist MHP allies - in early stages Sunday, the assembly said on Twitter. Previously this week, seven civil contemporary society organizations, including People Rights Association and Amnesty, said in a statement that terrorism expenses in Turkey had been arbitrary, adding the law violates the presumption of innocence and punishes those whose trials aren't finalized.
Investigations based on terrorism charges have already been launched against hundreds of thousands of men and women under a crackdown following a failed coup found in 2016. Associates of Amnesty and various other civil society organizations have been investigated and attempted, while hundreds of foundations were also shut down with decrees. Critics say Erdogan's government has employed the coup attempt as a pretext to quash dissent. The federal government says the procedures are necessary given the security threats facing Turkey.
Under the legislation, foundations will be inspected annually by civil servants. Local governors or the inside Minister can block on the net donation promotions under a measure to prevent terrorism financing and funds laundering. Fines as high as 200,000 lira ($26,500.60) could be levied, compared to a previous optimum of 700 lira, found in a move the seven corporations said will "used bring about the closure of several associations".
