 over allegations that he amassed unexplained real estate wealth, seeking 1 million Turkish lira ($22,540) in damages and accusing him of running a smear campaign with fabricated documents.){kind=link}
Turkey’s justice minister has filed both a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit against the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) over allegations that he amassed unexplained real estate wealth, seeking 1 million Turkish lira ($22,540) in damages and accusing him of running a smear campaign with fabricated documents.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek’s lawyer submitted the criminal complaint to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, alleging that CHP leader Özgür Özel committed insult, slander and forgery. Gürlek also filed a civil suit seeking damages.
The filing is the latest turn of events in a growing dispute that began after Özel accused Gürlek of engaging in current and past real estate transactions worth 452 million lira (around $10 million), wealth he said could not be explained by the salary of a longtime judge and prosecutor. Gürlek has denied the claim, saying he has only four properties registered in his name and that the records presented by Özel do not match actual land registry records.
According to the complaint, Gürlek argues that Özel repeatedly targeted him in public statements and tried to shape public opinion by using what the filing describes as false land registry images.
Former ruling party lawmaker Şamil Tayyar claimed after speaking with Gürlek that the minister had stayed publicly silent on the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to Tayyar’s account, Gürlek said Erdoğan told him not to engage in polemics with Özel, though he also said the court case would clarify the land registry dispute.
Tayyar also quoted Gürlek as saying that his four properties are worth less than 40 million lira in total at current values and that he had paid 9 million lira for a home before later selling it for 13 million lira near the end of his term as deputy justice minister.
Gürlek is the former İstanbul chief public prosecutor who oversaw a sweeping legal campaign against CHP-run municipalities and the corruption case against jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Erdoğan’s top rival. The CHP has already filed its own criminal complaint against Gürlek over the asset allegations.
Three land registry officials were suspended and subsequently arrested this week after authorities traced repeated searches of Gürlek’s property records, prompting accusations that rather than rebutting the allegations, the government is pursuing those who looked into them.