Statement from MHP's Feti Yıldız ahead of HSK election

The election for the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) will be held in the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM).

HSK members will be selected from among 15 candidates determined by the Joint Committee composed of members of the Constitutional and Justice Commissions. In the elections, a separate secret ballot will be cast for each member, and if a majority is not reached, a drawing of lots will be applied.

Feti Yıldız, Deputy Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) responsible for Legal and Election Affairs, made a statement ahead of the HSK elections.

In a post on his social media account, Yıldız stated the following:

In a state of law where the presumption of innocence is fundamental, the defendant benefits from doubt, no one is forced to incriminate themselves, natural judges serve in independent and impartial courts, hearings are public, cases are concluded within a reasonable time, evidence is direct, human rights are respected, protective justice is established, and judicial oversight is maintained; we are entrusted to the legal knowledge and conscience of those within the practice.

The qualities that a judge should possess are listed in the Mecelle. In a sense, these are the 'professional rules' of judgeship. 'A judge must be wise, intelligent, upright, reliable, dignified, and steadfast.' I wish success to the friends who will be elected.

The election of HSK members will take place today in the TBMM.
Where the presumption of innocence is fundamental and the defendant benefits from doubt,
where no one is forced to incriminate themselves,
in independent and impartial courts,
where natural judges serve,
where hearings are public,
and cases are concluded within a reasonable time...

— Feti Yıldız (@YildizFeti) May 20, 2025