Addressing prospective judges and prosecutors who gathered at the Presidential Complex on Tuesday for a ceremony for their first assignments, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The judiciary members are increasingly targeted by the opposition, whose mayors were detained or arrested in recent months over a string of corruption allegations. The CHP’s leader, Özgür Özel, faces an investigation himself for openly threatening prosecutors behind a probe over an alleged criminal gang led by Istanbul’s disgraced former mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu.
Erdoğan emphasized the judiciary’s independence and said everyone, from politicians to the media, should respect it. “We can only support our judiciary members who do their job honestly and in the framework of the Constitution and laws,” Erdoğan said in his speech.
He said that critics should not mistake the silence of the judiciary members as “weakness.” “They are bound to speak out only through the verdicts they issued, and this silence should not be abused,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is not the case in recent months and we see a threatening, irresponsible discourse in politics toward members of the judiciary,” Erdoğan said, without openly naming the CHP.
“The reason for this discourse is certainly the significance of the accusations they faced. The biggest fear of those who wag their fingers toward judges and prosecutors, those harassing and threatening them to paralyze the judicial system, is that their masks will come off,” Erdoğan said.
The president also dismissed allegations that investigations against the CHP’s mayors were politically motivated. “It is one of the basic principles of the law. The Prosecutor’s Office is obliged to file a public lawsuit if it has sufficient evidence regarding bribery, corruption, tender rigging, etc,” Erdoğan stated.
Last June, an ex officio investigation was launched against the CHP chairperson for the crimes of “threatening a judicial officer to prevent him from performing his duty" and “openly insulting a public official due to his duty.” Özel has slammed Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek over the arrest of five CHP mayors in an investigation against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) on charges of widespread corruption.
Calling out to Gürlek, Özel said: “Akın, you hit a hard rock, son! I will get over there and destroy you. Come to your senses.”
The CHP has singled out Gürlek for acting as a “guillotine” for Erdoğan following the arrest of a CHP mayor, Rıza Akpolat, in October 2024, accusing him of orchestrating the arrest of Ahmet Özer, another CHP mayor who was serving in the Esenyurt district before he was charged with links to the PKK terrorist group last year.
Gürlek was also targeted by Istanbul’s former mayor, Imamoğlu, who accused the chief prosecutor of having “a corrupt mindset” after Akpolat’s arrest.
“We will change this mindset to save your children, too. We will change that mindset so nobody would take away your children in a dawn raid,” Imamoğlu had menacingly said. The former mayor was charged with threatening Gürlek and using his influence as a mayor to exert pressure on judicial organs and members in a bid to win favors in lawsuits involving his party.
The CHP was rocked by corruption allegations after Imamoğlu, viewed as a future presidential candidate, was arrested last March on charges of corruption. Prosecutors uncovered a deep web of criminal activity led by Imamoğlu and his associates at the municipality, from an adviser to heads of municipal subsidiaries. Mounting evidence against the Imamoğlu "gang" is included in a newly released indictment where the mayor faces thousands of years in prison.
