Gulenists go and AKP members come

Alican Uludağ

Of the 1,341 lawyers that the Ministry of Justice inducted as judges in the 24 April exam, 90% were selected from among the AKP’s provincial and sub-provincial organisations.
 
Fresh scandals are emerging over the induction of AKP supporters as judges in the Ministry of Justice’s exam to enable lawyers to transition to judge. Among the 1,341 people inducted as judges was Ercan Poyraz, the Ankara Branch Chair of the Ensar Foundation at which instances of the sexual exploitation of children have taken place.
Last month, the Ministry of Justice promoted more than one thousand people from lawyer to judge through interview. Numbering among them were Minster of Justice Bekir Bozdağ’s special office director and Council of State Chair Zerrin Güngör’s daughter, who works at the Palace. The CHP’s Barış Yarkadaş has also disclosed that many AKP organisation administrators have transitioned from lawyer to judge. With the inductions continuing to provoke public criticism about a ‘party-affiliated’ judiciary, some notable new names have emerged on the list. One of these is Ercan Poyraz, Attorney-at-Law, who is the Ankara Branch Chair of the Ensar Foundation. Poyraz, whose name is included in the list of inductees, invited many AKP ministers and MPs to panels that he staged when managing the Ensar Foundation. Two AKP MPs are currently included on the foundation’s Ankara management.

A party-affiliated judiciary is coming
CHP Ankara MP Murat Emir reacted strongly to the induction made from the Ensar Foundation. He stated that the AKP had done its utmost during its fifteen-year rule to politicise the judiciary and turn it into its appendage. Emir, stressing that the ruling party surrendered the judiciary to the Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organisation in the 2010 referendum and thanks to this the 15 July coup attempt was experienced, recounted that the ruling party, not having drawn the lesson from this, had now abolished the 70-point threshold in interviews for candidate judges under a decree with the force of law. Emir, stressing that this had been done for the purpose of infiltrating the judiciary, stated, ‘They are doing this by trampling on the rights of those who merit the position. They are continuing, as ever, to politicise the judiciary and turn it into a party-affiliated judiciary.’

30 more AKP-affiliated judges
CHP MP Barış Yarkadaş has disclosed thirty fresh names of AKP members who have been made judges. Yarkadaş, indicating that of the 1,314 judges appointed on 24 April, 90% were selected from among the AKP’s provincial and sub-provincial organisations, has noted that the new list includes, for example, Presidential Chief Legal Consultant Ahmet Karayiğit’s daughter Sevcan Karayiğit, Attorney-at-Law. The other names that Yarkadaş has disclosed are as follow:
Furkan Barutçu: Founding AKP Chair of Sultanbeyli Sub-Province - İlyas Demircan: AKP Chair in Balıkesir’s İvrindi Sub-Province - Yadigar Demircan: wife of the AKP Chair in Balıkesir’s İvrindi Sub-Province, member of the AKP Women’s Branches - Serkan Başok: nephew of Kayseri Chief Prosecutor Mehmet Siyami Başok who dropped the charges against Mehmet Özhaseki - Ahmet Emre Arıkan: Member of the AKP’s Denizli Province Executive Board - Aslı Arslanhan: former AKP administrator in Kocaeli’s Çayırova Sub-Province - Nahide Hakan: Chair of the AKP Van Women’s Branches - Bekir Yıldız: nephew of an AKP MP and AKP member - Necdet Tarhan: AKP candidate for the Van Edremit executive committee - Açelya Kahya: member of the AKP’s Giresun provincial executive board - Ethem Başer: member of the AKP’s Giresun provincial executive board - Cemal Yayla: AKP member in Giresun - Ömer Faruk Yanık: AKP member in Giresun’s Görele - İpek Kışlalı: AKP administrator in İzmir’s Karabağlar Sub-Province - Emrah Gürger and his wife Özlem Gürger: known for their closeness to the AKP - Yavuz Ertugay: Chair of Erzurum Homeland Education and Culture Association (Association close to the AKP) - Alpaslan Güzel: Former AKP Chair in Kaman Sub-Province - Neşe Arısoy: Chair of the AKP Adana Women’s Branches - Ömer Çağlar: AKP member of Adana Metropolitan Municipal Assembly - Mahmut Çakmak: member of the AKP’s Adana provincial discipline board - Aslı Çetin Turpçu: candidate AKP MP for Adana - Esra Işıl Sağlam: AKP member in Adana - Hüseyin Çamlı: AKP member in Adana - Pelin Burçin Dilmen: AKP member in Adana - Mustafa Kilitçi: AKP member in Adana - Adem Metik: AKP member in Adana - Adem Yıldırım: AKP Deputy Chair in Van Province.