Turkey’s top judicial body elects new members amid controversy

Turkey's Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) on Tuesday has elected three permanent and three non-permanent members at the Grand General Assembly of the Court of Appeals amid controversy surrounding the elections for being controlled by agents of the Gülen Movement.

20th Civil Chamber member Yakup Ata has received 201 votes followed by 7th Penal Chamber member Kerim Tosun who received 196 votes and 18th Civil Chamber member Mustafa Kemal Özçelik received 193 votes and became permanent members of the HSYK while Ali Eryılmaz, Salih Sönmez and Alp Arslan became non-permanent members of the board.

Amongst the members who competed in the elections were Muharrem Akkaya, Alp Arslan, Yakup Ata, Mustafa Ateş, Bahri Aydoğan, Halit Baysoy, Ali Eryılmaz, Zeynep Nilgün Hacımahmutoğlu, Ali Orhan and a number of others.

The new members of the HSYK are allegedly affiliated with the Gülen Movement. According to a number of media outlets, Mustafa Ateş, Yakup Ata and Ali Eryılmaz are secret followers of the movement while Mustafa Kemal Özçelik is openly known to have ties with the Gülen Movement.

The Gülen Movement is a transnational movement led by the controversial U.S.-based imam Fethullah Gülen who lives in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania is accused of wiretapping thousands of people including Turkish government officials and encrypted phones. It has over 140 private schools throughout the world including the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It has been accused of infiltrating into state institutions in Turkey and attempting to overthrow the government.