, alleging wealth that could not be explained by a public official’s salary.){kind=link}
Turkey’s main opposition party filed a criminal complaint against Justice Minister Akın Gürlek after party leader Özgür Özel accused him of engaging in real estate transactions worth 452 million Turkish lira ($10.2 million), alleging wealth that could not be explained by a public official’s salary.
The complaint, filed by the Republican People’s Party (CHP), escalates a dispute that began when Özel said Gürlek’s current and previously sold properties included 11 apartments and one parcel of land worth 325.5 million lira, plus four apartments allegedly sold for 126.5 million lira. The CHP argues that the full record of purchases and sales should be examined, not only the properties currently registered in Gürlek’s name.
Gürlek has denied the accusations, saying he owns only four properties and that the papers shown by Özel do not match actual land registry records. He said he and his wife, who is also a judge, regularly submit asset declarations to the proper authorities and that he would pursue legal action, including a civil claim for reputational damages.
Gürlek became a central opposition target during his tenure as İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor, when he oversaw the sweeping legal campaign against CHP-run municipalities and the corruption case against jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s top rival. He was appointed justice minister in February.
Officials who accessed land records face legal action
The controversy expanded on Wednesday, when Turkish media reported that public employees who accessed Gürlek’s land registry records while he was İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor had been identified and could face legal action. The reports said the searches were carried out periodically at different land registry offices.
The real estate allegations are not the first time Özel has accused Gürlek of holding positions or assets inconsistent with the role of a top prosecutor. In November Özel said Gürlek had remained on the board of a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of the state-run Eti Maden mining company after becoming İstanbul’s chief public prosecutor, a claim Gürlek denied, though a Luxembourg corporate filing published at the time appeared to support the opposition leader’s timeline.