Who will elect the President of the Court of Cassation?

Simultaneously with the local elections, a selection process had also begun in the high judiciary.

While the new president of the Constitutional Court was determined 10 days before yesterday's local elections, the rounds of voting at the Court of Cassation, which continued breathlessly throughout last week, yielded no results.

What is the connection between the local elections and the high judiciary elections?

ZÜHTÜ ARSLAN WILL RETURN TO THE UNIVERSITY

Before explaining this, let us share some behind-the-scenes information regarding the Constitutional Court, which is specifically targeted by MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli, a partner in the People's Alliance, and which he has demanded be shut down if necessary.

Whose term of office has expired It was considered a certainty that İrfan Fidan, who was appointed from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to the Court of Cassation and then at lightning speed to the Constitutional Court (AYM) to replace President Zühtü Arslan, would be elected. However, that did not happen. Kadir Özkaya took the presidential seat in the election on March 21.

It is said that when Erdoğan, who openly supported İrfan Fidan in last year's presidential election, did not get the result he wanted, he did not intervene openly and officially this time, and a middle ground was found, leading to Özkaya's election. The notable thing about Özkaya is this: he will only serve as president for 2.5 years due to the age limit. It is being discussed that if the AKP government continues and the Constitutional Court remains, that is when the era of İrfan Fidan will begin.

On the day the Constitutional Court elections were to be held, a pro-government newspaper ran the headline "Zühtü is retired." We do not know if it was irony or if they really thought so; but let us state immediately that Zühtü Arslan cannot retire yet because he has not reached the age limit. So, what will Arslan do after leaving the presidency of the Constitutional Court? Since he was elected from the Higher Education Council (YÖK) quota, it is expected that he will return there and likely He is expected to teach at Bilkent University.

Another piece of behind-the-scenes information; it will be remembered that for Yılmaz Akçil, whom Erdoğan appointed as a member of the Constitutional Court from the Council of State quota, a swearing-in ceremony was held on February 8. The only notable event at this ceremony was the absence of the President of the Court of Cassation, Mehmet Akarca, who has been at odds with the Constitutional Court for some time. As we have learned, information was provided beforehand that Akarca would attend the ceremony, but he did not show up and did not provide any excuse.

WHO IS WHO AT THE COURT OF CASSATION?

Let us come to the election for the President of the Court of Cassation, which began last week but could not be concluded.

In the elections held due to the expiration of the term of the current President Mehmet Akarca, where 5 names were initially candidates, Akarca, the names of the 3rd Criminal Chamber President Muhsin Şentürk and the 3rd Civil Chamber President Ömer Kerkez came to the fore. In the tenth round on Thursday, the two candidates who received the most votes, Akarca and Kerkez, competed. However, since an absolute majority could not be reached again, the elections will start from scratch as of this week, meaning that other names, primarily Akarca, Kerkez, and Şentürk, will also be able to be candidates.

During the voting last week, it was being discussed in the corridors of the Court of Cassation that in these rounds “it will be determined who does not want whom”The predictions were that the “unwanted person” was President Mehmet Akarca; however, the results showed that this person was not Akarca, but Muhsin Şentürk.

Let us look at the characteristics of the three candidates.

President Mehmet Akarca was previously appointed as the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation by Erdoğan twice. It has been suggested that in these appointments, "I am in love with Erdoğan... May my mother, father, spouse, and children be sacrificed for Erdoğan." the closeness of businessman Ethem Sancak to Akarca through his spouse was influential.

As is known, two years ago, Ethem Sancak stated; "We came to power with the support of America. A crowned head gets wiser. We stood our ground during the 'one minute' incident. We began to challenge the West's shackle system. To overthrow this, FETÖ, which they had infiltrated into us, carried out the July 15 coup attempt. We defeated them with the support of our nation."Following this statement, he was referred to the Provincial Disciplinary Board by the AKP İstanbul Provincial Executive Board with a request for permanent expulsion. He subsequently resigned from the AKP.

What we mean is; Mehmet Akarca, who is seen as a certain choice, primarily now Ethem Sancak It is emphasized that he could not be elected as a sure bet because the Ethem Sancak factor was not effective, and also because some of his choices and practices during his 4-year presidency drew the reaction of a significant portion of the Court of Cassation members.

The second name, the President of the 3rd Criminal Chamber, Muhsin Şentürk also became famous for resisting the Constitutional Court's release decision regarding Hatay MP Can Atalay, ensuring the revocation of Atalay's parliamentary membership, and subsequently filing a criminal complaint against the 9 members of the Constitutional Court who ruled in favor of Atalay. As a result of all this, Şentürk's chamber earned the appreciation of, in particular, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, a partner in the People's Alliance, who stated, “We wholeheartedly congratulate the honorable judges of the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, who defended the honor of Turkish justice by resisting all impositions and pressures, and we support their decision.”As can be understood from this, it is stated that Şentürk, who is the candidate of the MHP members in the Court of Cassation, is supported by some legal experts at the Palace and a portion of the group known as the “Istanbul group in the judiciary.”

THE “MINISTER OF JUSTICE” OF THE ERGENEKON CONSPIRACY!..

The third and surprise candidate, Ömer Kerkez, is a name well-known not to the public, but to both the judiciary and the Palace bureaucracy. This is because he served for a long time in the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) before being elected as a member of the Court of Cassation in 2017. Furthermore, his housemates and schoolmates from his student years are noteworthy. For example, he is currently a schoolmate of Metin Kıratlı, the Head of Administrative Affairs of the Presidency, and it is said that he stayed in the same house as former Ministry of Justice Undersecretary Birol Erdem, who conducted negotiations for the election of members to the Court of Cassation and the Council of State with the Fethullah Gülen community after the 2010 constitutional amendment, who revealed that the list agreed upon was presented to Erdoğan after the July 15 coup attempt with the remark, "it turned out a bit enlightened [nurlu]," whose acquittal at the end of his trial was highly controversial, and who is even said to be a member of the 'Hakyol' group rather than 'FETÖ,' and that he met Sadullah Ergin thanks to Erdem and took a position at the Ministry of Justice, and that he was elected to the HSYK during the term of Bekir Bozdağ as Minister of Justice.

In short, the comments made about Ömer Kerkez are as follows:

"They were not on good terms with FETÖ. They are not from the Menzil or Hakyol groups as alleged, but they are close to every segment. Because they were supported by a member elected from the CHP quota in the HSK, they are thought to be a social democrat, but this is not true either. That member only supports them because they worked together. What is certain is this: they are someone who has always had very good relations with the government." 

After all this, let us recall another very interesting detail regarding Kerkez.

Their name appeared as "Minister of Justice" in the so-called Council of Ministers list included in the supplementary folders of the Ergenekon conspiracy indictment, and when Kerkez was elected as an HSYK member in 2014, this situation was reported with the headline, "The Ergenekon 'Minister of Justice' is also in the HSYK" as a news story.

WHY DID ERDOĞAN NOT INTERVENE?

To summarize;

The election rounds last week did not take place between these three candidates, but between the powers behind them.

It is expected that Erdoğan, who is believed to have refrained from intervening until now both to observe the power dynamics within the Court of Cassation and to avoid alienating the MHP and other forces before the local elections, will signal his choice for the new president after tomorrow. Following this signal, it is likely that a path will be taken to establish a balance among the groups in question through negotiations regarding the Court of Cassation's General Secretariat and the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor.

As the politicization of the judiciary from the bottom to the top becomes so commonplace, can justice ever truly come to this country?!