President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reshuffled his Cabinet, appointing Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek as justice minister, replacing Yılmaz Tunç. Gürlek has long been a target of the main opposition, dating back to his tenure as head of Istanbul’s 14th Heavy Penal Court, and more recently since his appointment as chief public prosecutor in October 2024, amid a series of high-profile court cases. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya was also replaced, with Erzurum Governor Mustafa Çiftçi named to the post.
The long-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle was published in the Official Gazette on Feb. 11. As is customary, the decree said the outgoing ministers had requested to be relieved of duty, rather than being dismissed.
Gürlek’s appointment is widely viewed as a promotion, given his role in high-profile investigations involving Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and other CHP mayors, primarily on corruption allegations. These were later followed by probes into alleged drug trafficking and illegal betting networks.
The new interior minister, Çiftçi, is a graduate of a Konya İmam Hatip School (religious vocational high school) and is known for his conservative religious background. He was awarded a certificate in 2024 as a “hafız,” a person who has memorized the Quran. He previously served as executive assistant to former Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman, a figure closely associated with Islamist politics.
The ruling alliance’s junior partner, the MHP, has long been reported to be dissatisfied with Yerlikaya’s tenure.
Since Turkey shifted to a presidential system, Erdoğan has tended to make only limited changes to the Cabinet, rather than the broad reshuffles common under the parliamentary system. This marks the second Cabinet reshuffle since the last general elections. After the 2023 elections, Environment Minister Murat Kurum was reappointed despite losing the Istanbul mayoral race to İmamoğlu, while the health minister was replaced by Kemal Memiş.
WHO IS GÜRLEK?
Gürlek rose rapidly through the judiciary. He was appointed deputy justice minister in June 2022, while serving as head of Istanbul’s 14th Heavy Penal Court, and was later named Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor in October 2024.
Born in 1982, Gürlek has been associated with numerous high-profile cases involving opposition figures, including jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, former CHP Istanbul chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu, Turkish Medical Association Chair Şebnem Korur Fincancı, journalist Can Dündar, Sözcü daily reporters and columnists, and philanthropist Osman Kavala.
He has drawn criticism for not implementing certain Constitutional Court rulings, including the decision concerning CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu. Gürlek was also involved in cases against the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), which led to the arrest of several lawyers, and the Academics for Peace, a group that called for an end to clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces in 2016.
Gürlek has also faced public scrutiny after his wife, Elif Gülşah Gürlek, was appointed to the Capital Markets Board, an appointment made under presidential authority.
A TARGET OF THE OPPOSITION
Both CHP Chair Özgür Özel and İmamoğlu have repeatedly targeted Gürlek in public statements, many of which remain the subject of ongoing court proceedings.
Özel described Gürlek as a “mobile guillotine,” referring to the investigation that led to the appointment of a trustee to Esenyurt, Istanbul’s largest CHP-run district. He also referred to Gürlek as the “judicial arm of the AKP.”
Responding to criticism, Gürlek has described the Istanbul municipality investigations as “the corruption file of the century.”
Erdoğan is scheduled to address the AKP parliamentary group on Feb. 11. While he had been expected to highlight recent political defections from the opposition, the Cabinet reshuffle is now set to dominate the political agenda.
