Erdoğan appoints new chief public prosecutor to Court of Cassation

Turkey's President Erdoğan has appointed Muhsin Şentürk, the judge who withdrew from the Court of Cassation presidential elections upon his advice, as the court’s chief public prosecutor. Şentürk infamously refused to comply with the AYM ruling to release Can Atalay.

Thursday May 16 2024 02:33 pm

Duvar English

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 16 appointed Muhsin Şentürk as the chief public prosecutor of the country’s top appeals court.

Şentürk was previously in the running for the court president but withdrew upon Erdoğan’s alleged interference to resolve the elections’ 50-week deadlock.

Insider sources told online news outlet DW Turkish that in exchange for his withdrawal, Şentürk was offered the recommendation of the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Cassation.

Şentürk withdrew and became a candidate for the prosecutor's office for President Erdoğan to make the final selection.

Previously, Şentürk was the president of the 3rd Criminal Chamber, which did not implement the Constitutional Court's decision to release former MP Can Atalay from prison.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) chair Özgür Özel commented on the appointment, saying Erdoğan has chosen the "token name of constitutional violation."

"How can you talk about normalisation while imposing on such an appointment? The high judiciary is not the place for such political calculations," opined the party leader.

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation plays an important role in Turkey's judiciary, with the authority to investigate, prepare indictments, decide if grounds for prosecution arise, and represent the prosecution in cases against high-ranking public officials.