Justice Minister Akın Gürlek Wednesday rejected allegations by Turkish main opposition leader Özgür Özel over his personal assets, calling the claims “baseless slander” and accusing Özel of attempting to deflect attention from ongoing corruption-related cases.
Speaking to reporters, Gürlek said documents presented by Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Özel claiming to show undisclosed property holdings were “fabricated and falsified,” adding that even the identification numbers cited in the materials did not correspond to his name.
“Those documents are completely fake,” he said, insisting that all of his assets had been declared in accordance with legal requirements.
Gürlek argued that Özel’s remarks were politically motivated and aimed at diverting public attention from what he described as a major corruption case.
“Özel’s primary objective is to obscure what has been called the ‘corruption case of the century,’” he stressed.
He also linked the allegations to a separate judicial process involving Antalya’s jailed mayor Muhittin Böcek, claiming that Özel was attempting to influence public perception regarding that case as well.
The justice minister said he owns four properties, all of which have been officially declared through mandatory asset disclosures required of judges and prosecutors. He disputed claims about the value of one property in Istanbul’s Tuzla district, saying it was worth “TL 3 to 4 million, not TL 30 million as alleged.”
Gürlek also announced that he would file a non-pecuniary damages lawsuit against Özel over the accusations. “I have nothing to hide,” he said.
“These claims are entirely untrue, and the courts will establish that the documents in question are fraudulent.”
Gürlek has been at the crosshairs of criticism by the main opposition over the investigation into corruption allegations in CHP-run municipalities.
The party’s leader recently stepped up rhetoric against Gürlek, leading prosecutors in Ankara to launch an investigation into his remarks.
Özel claimed Gürlek was rounding up people linked to his party unfairly and he would “show him.” He also implied Gürlek lacked “namus” (a Turkish word roughly meaning honesty or dignity) in the same speech. Such a description can be interpreted as a severe insult punishable under Turkish laws.
The CHP launched a blitz against prosecutors and the government in the wake of the arrest of the party’s Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, in March on graft charges. More arrests followed as investigators dug deeper into a criminal network allegedly led by Imamoğlu.
Separately, a legal complaint filed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s lawyer accused the CHP leader of insulting the president during a speech in Istanbul. The petition called for an investigation under laws criminalizing insults against the presidency and defamation, and requested that Özel face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
