VIDEO The prosecutor who demanded over 2,000 years in prison for Erdogan's rival, appointed by the president as minister of justice. Violence in parliament
Akin Gurlek. Credit: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday appointed Akin Gurlek, the chief prosecutor in Istanbul behind the unprecedented crackdown on the main opposition party, as justice minister, according to Reuters.
Gurlek's tenure as chief prosecutor, appointed in 2024, has seen a wave of arrests and investigations against the Republican People's Party (CHP), including the opening of cases against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been imprisoned since his arrest in March 2025. Imamoglu is considered President Erdogan's main political rival.
In a more than 4,000-page indictment from November 2025, Gurlek called for Imamoglu to be sentenced to more than 2,000 years in prison, accusing him of running a vast corruption ring. The investigations against the mayor have sparked the largest street protests in Turkey in a decade.
The first court term in the case, in which hundreds of defendants associated with the Istanbul municipality are accused of corruption, will take place next month.
Scandal in Parliament
In Turkey's parliament, where opposition lawmakers protested Gurlek's appointment, a scuffle broke out before the swearing-in.
Turkish parliament today 😉
— Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) February 11, 2026
In the first government reshuffle since the mid-2023 elections, Gurlek replaced Yilmaz Tunc, whose first parliamentary term dates back to 2007, at the Turkish Ministry of Justice.
At the same time, according to the Official Monitor, the governor of Erzurum province, Mustafa Ciftci, was appointed by Erdogan as the minister of the interior, replacing Ali Yerlikaya, who had been the governor of Istanbul before becoming a minister.
The reaction of the opposition
Hundreds of party members and elected officials were arrested in the crackdown during Gurlek's tenure as chief prosecutor. Opposition parties, human rights organizations and some foreign governments criticized the campaign, calling it undemocratic and politicized. The government has denied the allegations, saying the justice system is independent.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said Gurlek's appointment as justice minister furthered the “attempted judicial coup”.
“We will not capitulate… They cannot stop our march to power,” Ozel told reporters.
