President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has named İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor, Akın Gürlek, as his new justice minister, Turkey’s Official Gazette said, in a decision made public early Wednesday.
Gürlek, 44, is widely known for overseeing investigations targeting opposition politicians, mainly figures from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and filing lawsuits against them due to their criticism of his actions.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the reshuffle, which will also see a new interior minister appointed. The gazette said both had resigned.
As the top prosecutor in Turkey’s largest city, Gürlek issued the detention warrant for İstanbul’s powerful Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March of last year, a move generally seen as politically motivated that sparked the country’s worst street unrest in over a decade.
The detention came just days before İmamoğlu — seen as the only politician capable of beating Erdoğan at the ballot box — was named the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election. He was subsequently arrested.
A former deputy justice minister, Gürlek has been accused by opponents of going after Erdoğan’s rivals.
Since Gürlek’s appointment as İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor in October 2024, more than 15 CHP mayors have been arrested, most of them on corruption charges that they deny.
He has also ordered investigations into hundreds of CHP members on charges ranging from graft to terrorism ties and insulting the president.
İmamoğlu, 54, is currently facing a string of legal cases, including one in which he is accused of questioning Gürlek’s integrity.
Prosecutors have also opened an investigation into CHP leader Özgür Özel over allegations that he threatened and insulted Gürlek.
Gürlek takes over the role from incumbent Yılmaz Tunç, while the interior portfolio, which was held by Ali Yerlikaya, will be handed to Mustafa Çiftçi, the governor of the eastern province of Erzurum.
© Turkish Minute with reporting from Agence France-Presse