Lawsuit filed to stay execution of Akın Gürlek's appointment: 'The goal is to establish a fascist religious state'

News: Cenk BAŞBOĞAOĞLU-12punto

'IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW...'

Kıran summarized the legal process, stating, "When Akın Gürlek was appointed Minister of Justice by Presidential Decree in a manner clearly contrary to the Constitution and the law, we brought to our agenda the filing of a lawsuit at the Council of State for the cancellation of the relevant action, upon the initiative of our colleague, former YARSAV President Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu. On Monday, February 16, 2026, we filed the lawsuit as 5 lawyers who are members of the Ankara Bar Association." He continued, "While serving as Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor, Akın Gürlek was appointed Minister of Justice by Presidential appointment decree No. 2026/51, published in the Official Gazette dated 11.02.2026, in accordance with the Judges and Prosecutors Law No. 2802. However, Article 140/5 of the Constitution states, 'Judges and prosecutors cannot hold any official or private office other than those specified by law.' Similarly, the final paragraph of Article 48 of the Judges and Prosecutors Law No. 2802 states, 'Judges and prosecutors cannot hold any official or private office other than those specified by law, nor can they engage in gainful activities.' Under the constitutional provision, while their duties as judges and prosecutors continue, they cannot be appointed to any position other than those shown in the staffing tables of Law No. 2802 or those mentioned in said law. Akın Gürlek was appointed Minister of Justice without resigning from his prosecutorial post, without being deemed to have resigned, or without this duty ending 'voluntarily.' The ministerial duty begins at the moment of appointment, before the oath-taking process. In this respect, the act of appointing Akın Gürlek as minister before his prosecutorial duty ended is clearly contrary to Article 140/5 of the Constitution and the final paragraph of Article 48 of Law No. 2802."

'GÜRLEK WAS APPOINTED MINISTER OF JUSTICE BEFORE HIS PROSECUTORIAL DUTY ENDED'

Kıran continued his statement as follows: "Akın Gürlek was appointed Minister of Justice before his prosecutorial duty ended. If it is argued that there is no second office involved due to the appointment, and that this action terminated his prosecutorial duty, then in this case, because the prosecutorial duty ended due to this appointment made before the duty had concluded, there is a violation of the rule against dismissal from office, namely Article 139/1 of the Constitution and Article 44/1 of Law No. 2802." 

In Turkey, the Minister of Justice is also the head of the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors). Defenses before the ECHR are prepared by the Ministry of Justice and submitted to the ECHR, and negotiations with the Council of Europe regarding the execution of ECHR decisions are conducted by the Ministry of Justice.

Furthermore, responses regarding individual applications to the Constitutional Court are also prepared by the Ministry of Justice. 

Akın Gürlek, who was appointed Minister of Justice, previously served as the President of the 14th, 26th, and 37th High Criminal Courts of Istanbul, was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister of Justice, and after that role, was appointed Chief Public Prosecutor of Istanbul. Now, he has been appointed Minister of Justice. The conviction decisions he rendered during his time as a High Criminal Court president have been widely discussed and featured in national and international legal circles, and the statements of the political power have always been within the framework of the appropriateness of these decisions."

'HE HAS NOT ACTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT'S RULING'

People's Lawyer Sait Kıran provided examples of Gürlek failing to act in accordance with the law. Kıran stated, "To give just one example, while Akın Gürlek was the President of the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court, he did not act in accordance with the Constitutional Court's ruling on the violation of rights regarding Enis Berberoğlu, despite the mandatory provisions of Articles 153/last and 11 of the Constitution. (For this reason alone, he should have been punished with disciplinary action by the HSK, including dismissal from the profession, and should have been tried and punished; however, these actions were not taken. Instead, contrary to judicial independence, he was repeatedly rewarded with appointments by the HSK, where the political power is influential. Despite such serious illegalities, no judicial or disciplinary investigations were opened against him by the HSK. He was appointed as Deputy Minister by the political power, even made a Deputy Minister serving on the HSK, and is now being made the President of the HSK. Many criminal complaints have been filed against the aforementioned individual, and now he is being made the President of the HSK, which will be the body to approve and decide on these matters, effectively rendering the HSK dysfunctional.)" 

'THE GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A FASCIST RELIGIOUS STATE'

Regarding the political atmosphere Turkey will witness following the appointment decision, Kıran said, "The AKP government, which recognizes no Constitution, law, or justice, is showing with this appointment that it will go one step further. The AKP government, which does not comply with the Constitution, ignores laws, and does not recognize the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights, will increase rights violations and attack all segments of society it perceives as opposition more brutally. Their real goal is to establish a medieval, fascist religious state similar to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. This regime is being built step by step. This appointment is a new step in that direction."

He added, "The primary duty of all progressive, democratic, true patriots who love their country and people is to fight against this AKP government, which is the disaster of the century for our country. As long as this government, which is an enemy of the people and the country and was organized and inflicted upon us by US imperialism, is not overthrown, there will be no salvation for us. The end of the path this government is following is the fragmentation of the country within the framework of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP). However, just as this people defeated the imperialists and their local servants in the First Anti-Imperialist War of Independence, they will defeat the US-EU imperialists and their local servants this time as well. In the true democratic people's government to be established as a result of our victory, all our people will attain freedom and prosperity."

12punto has obtained the case file