Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor Accused of Corruption Amid Crackdown on Opposition Mayors
In an explosive address to parliament this week, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel unveiled serious allegations of corruption and abuse of public resources by Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, the former judge notorious for overseeing politically charged trials targeting opposition figures, journalists, and lawyers. He is now crackdown on mayors of CHP-led municipalities.
The claims come amid a sweeping crackdown on CHP-led municipalities, which has already seen 11 opposition mayors detained since March 2024. Among them is Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and widely viewed as the opposition’s best hope in the next presidential race.
At the center of the controversy is a luxury vehicle—an Opel Insignia with license plate 34 NZ 2301—which Özel says Gürlek used for 540 consecutive days prior to 2019 while serving as a judge in Istanbul, during a time when the city was still governed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The vehicle was rented by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) and fully financed by the city—including rental fees, fuel, tolls, a personal driver, and maintenance.
“This man, who now leads politically motivated prosecutions against our elected officials, was comfortably driving a luxury vehicle rented and paid for by the people of Istanbul,” said Özel in his speech. “He doesn’t investigate misconduct before 2019—because he himself benefited from that era.”
A Pattern of Politicized Justice
Akın Gürlek’s name has long been associated with the judicial persecution of Erdoğan’s critics. As a judge, he presided over the trials of:
- Scores of imprisoned lawyers,
- Selahattin Demirtaş, Kurdish opposition leader,
- Canan Kaftancıoğlu, CHP’s Istanbul provincial chair,
- Şebnem Korur Fincancı, head of the Turkish Medical Union,
- Can Dündar, exiled journalist, and
- Enis Berberoğlu, CHP lawmaker whose retrial was blocked in defiance of Constitutional Court orders.
In 2022, Gürlek was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice. In 2024, he was made Chief Public Prosecutor of Istanbul, a role he has used to launch aggressive investigations into opposition mayors—culminating in the arrest of İmamoğlu on March 23, 2025, coinciding with the CHP’s internal presidential nomination process.
“This is not justice—it’s vendetta dressed in robes,” said one senior CHP official who requested anonymity.
Allegations of Personal Enrichment
The scandal doesn’t end with the municipal vehicle. Özel alleges that Gürlek, who earns a public servant’s salary, has enjoyed luxuries far beyond his means:
- He reportedly attended a luxury yacht fair twice and entered negotiations to purchase a yacht whose value would exceed what he could afford even if he saved his full salary for 87 years.
- He allegedly received a culturally protected property in Istanbul’s prestigious Bosphorus area, which was illegally expanded to include a private pool, bulletproof windows, and unauthorized annexes for his entourage—violating building and preservation laws.
“Let him deny it,” said Özel. “The documents are in my hands. This is not just corruption; this is a system where public servants enrich themselves through loyalty to one man—Erdoğan.”
The Cost of Loyalty
Gürlek’s career trajectory reflects a wider pattern in Turkey’s judiciary, where judges and prosecutors are rewarded for pleasing the political leadership. In 2021, Gürlek was promoted to “first-class judge” status by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), despite multiple convictions he issued being overturned by the Constitutional Court for human rights violations.
Legal experts warn this erosion of judicial independence has created a two-tiered system: one where political allies are shielded, and critics are targeted with charges ranging from “terror propaganda” to “espionage.”
“Turkey’s legal system is no longer blindfolded—it sees only what power wants it to see,” said a former Turkish judge now living in exile.
A Justice System in Crisis
With over 280 individuals targeted in five waves of Istanbul-centered operations since Gürlek’s appointment, and six CHP mayors already behind bars, observers fear this is only the beginning.
President Erdoğan has openly endorsed the crackdown, stating in January: “The real deal is yet to come.”
For many Turks, these words—coupled with the revelations about Gürlek—paint a chilling picture of a judiciary transformed from a pillar of democracy into a tool of political engineering.
As Özgür Özel put it: “The salt hasn’t gone bad—the rot is being passed off as salt.”
Categories: Turkey Human Rights Blog