CHP youth branch head faces investigation for criticizing Istanbul prosecutor
Despite the lack of a detention order, Turkish main opposition CHP’s youth branch head Cem Aydın was taken to a courthouse with eight police officers to testify within the investigation launched against him for criticizing Istanbul prosecutor Akın Gürlek.
Duvar English
Cem Aydın, the youth branch head of the Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is facing an investigation over his social media post regarding Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek.
An Istanbul prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into Aydın for his social media post calling Gürlek “mobile guillotine” on the alleged charges of “insulting a public official” and “targeting people fighting against terrorism.”
CHP leader Özel often calls Gürlek “mobile guillotine” for his politically motivated investigations launched into opposition figures to oppress them.
Previously a deputy justice minister, Gürlek was appointed as the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor in 2024.
Despite the lack of a detention order, Cem Aydın was taken to the Çağlayan Courthouse with eight police officers on Jan. 20 to testify within the investigation.
The court barred Aydın from traveling internationally.
The investigation is seen as another strand of the government’s crackdown on the opposition CHP.
In a social media post, Aydın said, “Police officers came to my house, calling the actual detention ‘statement.’ We have nothing to be afraid of.”
Aydın told the press he would not be scared or intimated “no matter what they do.”
Aydın’s “detention” drew huge ire in the opposition.
CHP leader Özgür Özel called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “to cut out the intermediaries.”
“Pull Akin out, we are here. If you want to settle accounts, if you have no fear, bring the ballot box and get the answer from the nation. Let it be whatever the people say. I dare you. My party is ready, I am ready, our candidate is ready,” Özel said during a seminar on the politicization of the judiciary held in Istanbul.
“If you are at the door of a man and you can't even give him a detention warrant, where is the state and where is the police, hasn't it turned into a police state? All our deputy chairs are going to the courthouse. Apparently, he is accused of using an expression that I have used before,” he told Halk TV.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu said, “Today the independent judiciary is dying.”
He also called on Gürlek and said, “We will dismantle this mindset that governs you to protect even your children from this treatment. We will dismantle it so that no one can take your children from your house in the morning. We will remove the ideas in your mind from every part of this country so that we can provide peace for your family.”
Two hours after İmamoğlu spoke, another investigation was launched against him, for allegedly “threatening” Gürlek.
Former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said, “We will never allow you to intimidate our youth through the judiciary.”