Analysis
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted the DEM Party’s İmralı delegation, as the parliamentary commission listened to Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç for the first time since the PKK announced that all its forces in Turkey had begun withdrawing to northern Iraq.
CHP Chair Özgür Özel sharply attacked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek during a protest over the arrest of Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney.
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. Gürlek’s appointment is widely viewed as a promotion
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said there are no plans for a new execution law and that amnesty rumors are unfounded, responding to remarks by MHP Deputy Chair Feti Yıldız on a possible overhaul of sentence enforcement.
Former İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer and former İZBETON General Manager Heval Savaş Kaya were ordered released at the fourth hearing of the case involving allegations of corruption by subcontractors at İZBETON AŞ, a subsidiary of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.
The possibility the trial of imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu could be televised by state broadcaster TRT has sparked rare agreement among political rivals. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan endorsed MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli’s call for the hearings to be aired live. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç also weighed in, saying that Parliament can act on the matter if there is consensus.
Tunç Soyer, the former mayor of İzmir, was detained as part of an operation targeting the municipality and its affiliated companies during his term.