New judges and prosecutors who went to the Turkish presidential palace on Monday for balloting that will determine their work assignments stood up and applauded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım in a show of support for them.
The vote was conducted by the Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) for former lawyers who have become judges and prosecutors.
It has become common for the members of the Turkish judiciary to show their open support for Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.
Turkey’s judiciary is being criticized for acting on orders from President Erdoğan and not basing their rulings on the law. Judges in Turkey who make decisions that anger Erdoğan are either replaced or jailed.
Turkey has jailed more than 50,000 people in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15,2016 under the pretext of anti-coup fight. The arrests are seen as being politically motivated and aimed at eliminating Erdoğan’s critics.