President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday hit out at his main opposition over remarks targeting a public prosecutor and sparked backlash for threatening Türkiye’s judiciary.
“Even if you are an opposition party leader, you cannot make threats on live television,” Erdoğan said at an event in the capital Ankara to unveil Türkiye’s fourth judicial reform strategy document.
“Nobody can threaten judicial members, put pressure on the courts or wag their fingers at our judicial committee for pursuing unlawfulness with the authority granted by law,” Erdoğan said, referring to recent remarks from Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chair Özgür Özel and the CHP’s popular mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoğlu, about Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek.
Imamoğlu is currently under investigation for “statements qualifying as threats against Gürlek and his family, as well as targeting persons tasked with countering threats and terrorism.”
The CHP has singled out Gürlek for acting as a “guillotine” for Erdoğan, following the arrest of Rıza Akpolat, the CHP mayor for the city’s Beşiktaş district, on charges of corruption.
The opposition party claims the charges against him are politically motivated and an effort to intimidate CHP mayors, Imamoğlu in particular.
Imamoğlu found himself in hot water when he made statements appearing to threaten the family of Gürlek, after Akpolat’s arrest.
Imamoğlu said on Jan. 20 that the chief prosecutor had a corrupt mindset. “We will change this mindset to save your children too. We will change that mindset so nobody would take away your children in a dawn raid,” Imamoğlu said, in reference to the detention of Akpolat in the early morning.
“Nobody is above the law,” Erdoğan said. “Those who commit crimes, regardless of who they are, must account for their actions to independent Turkish courts.”
Similarly, he said, the new strategy document will ensure an effective, fast-functioning and accessible justice system is built based on the rule of law.
The fourth judicial reform document outlines five primary principles, including the strengthening of the corporate structure and the human resources capacity, restructuring of processes, increasing the effectiveness of the penal justice system and the legal and administrative trial processes, and making access to justice easier.
In total, the document branches out to 45 targets and 264 activities.
“We will implement new policies in the penal justice system prioritizing the victim to facilitate full faith in justice,” Erdoğan said.
Standards on expression, freedom of the press, personal freedom and security will be increased and new specialization courts will be set up to tackle cases relating to the environment, health care, insurance, traffic and workplace accidents, according to the president.
“We will regulate the balance of crime, sanctions and execution within the framework of social needs in accordance with the principle of protecting rights and freedoms,” Erdoğan said.
Punishment for offenses like shooting guns into the air during weddings, soldier sendoffs or other public celebrations will be significantly increased, as will sentences for crimes committed against personal safety, freedom or the environment, Erdoğan said.
“We will subject drivers who get out of their vehicles for the purpose of attack to independent sanctions, including the seizure of their license. We will also regulate leaving the scene of traffic accidents involving death or injury as a separate crime, except for necessity,” Erdoğan said.
Among many others, the measures will include the establishment of new courthouses for personal data protection authorities and the human rights and quality institution of Türkiye; an increase in the number of courts working with a single judge; and the implementation of artificial intelligence applications in judicial systems.