Akın Gürlek, İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor and the figure behind an intensifying crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has denied claims that he served as a board member of a state-owned company’s foreign subsidiary after taking office as İstanbul’s top prosecutor.
Gürlek addressed the allegations in a rare interview published Tuesday in the pro-government Yeni Şafak daily.
CHP leader Özgür Özel recently claimed that Gürlek, 43, continued to serve on the board of Etimine SA, the Luxembourg-based subsidiary of the state-run Eti Maden mining company, and received payments from the company for months after his appointment as İstanbul prosecutor in October 2024.
Özel said Gürlek was appointed chief prosecutor on October 2, 2024, and then named to Etimine’s board on November 29, 2024, claiming that he continued to receive income “for nine months,” including during the period when İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained and later arrested in March.
Gürlek, a former judge and deputy justice minister known for convicting dissidents in politically motivated trials, was appointed İstanbul’s chief prosecutor amid concerns about further judicial pressure on government critics.
Gürlek denies Özel’s claim
In the interview Gürlek insisted that he resigned from the Etimine board immediately after assuming his new position.
He said he formally submitted his resignation and received confirmation that it had been delivered. Since the company’s general assembly convenes only once a year, he said, his resignation was processed at that meeting. Gürlek said he neither signed any documents nor received any payment from the company after his resignation took effect.
He also said he has taken legal action against Özel over what he described as defamatory allegations.
“I don’t even want to dignify these with an answer,” Gürlek told the paper. “They have come under pressure, so they resorted to attacks.”
Document contradicts Gürlek’s denial
However, a filing with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register contradicts key parts of the prosecutor’s account. The document, dated July 29, 2025, lists Gürlek as having been formally appointed to the board of directors of Etimine SA on November 29, 2024 — nearly two months after he became İstanbul’s chief prosecutor.
The filing identifies him as “administrateur, représentant des actionnaires classe A” with joint signature authority and a mandate valid until the next general assembly in 2027. The record appears to support Özel’s timeline.
After taking office, Gürlek launched a series of investigations and criminal cases against CHP mayors in İstanbul and other officials, sparking accusations that the moves were politically motivated and aimed at sidelining President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, İmamoğlu, ahead of the next presidential election.
İmamoğlu was declared his party’s presidential candidate in March, when he was arrested on corruption charges linked to an investigation into the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
A 4,000-page indictment unveiled by Gürlek’s office earlier this month accuses İmamoğlu of running a criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion and bid rigging. It names 402 suspects, 105 of whom are in pretrial detention.
Meanhwile, the İstanbul 40th High Criminal Court has accepted the indictment, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Tuesday. A date for the first hearing has not yet been set.
Gürlek defends the investigations
In his interview with Yeni Şafak, Gürlek defended the corruption probe targeting the İstanbul Municipality and affiliated companies, denying claims that prosecutors are targeting CHP-run municipalities.
He said many of the detainees are businesspeople close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) or former AKP members, claiming that the investigation is based on evidence, not political considerations.
The prosecutor repeated his claim that İmamoğlu presided over a “criminal organization,” saying the indictment describes the network as reaching its “strongest point” during his time in office.
İmamoğlu’s arrest in March triggered nationwide protests, marking Turkey’s largest street mobilization since the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations.
According to a CHP report from late October, 16 CHP mayors are currently jailed and 13 municipalities have been placed under government-appointed trustees since the party’s sweeping victory in the March 2024 local elections. The party describes the prosecutions as a “judicial coup” aimed at reversing its gains.
The government denies political motivation, saying all investigations are carried out in accordance with the law.
Deteriorating rule of law
Concerns about the independence of Turkey’s judiciary have deepened since a 2016 coup attempt, after which more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors were removed and replaced with younger officials widely seen as loyal to the AKP.
In the latest global Rule of Law Index released in October 2025 by the World Justice Project, Turkey ranked 118th out of 143 countries, falling one place from the previous year.