Dhe Turkish Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül has drawn the necessary conclusions from the growing tensions with his opponents in the government and resigned from his post on Saturday. He announced his resignation with a dry message on Twitter, without giving any reasons.
Apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back was the release of security camera footage last week showing Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu dining with the British ambassador. The state-related media then accused Imamoglu, who is considered a possible candidate for next year’s presidential election, of not having taken care of his duties during last week’s snowstorm.
Gül criticized the fact that the surveillance camera images were published and said that this is how the members of Fetö, as the Turkish state calls the movement of the preacher Fethullah Gülen, acted in the past. The Turkish media reported that this comparison was met with fierce criticism in the presidential office, in the AKP and in the far-right MHP.
Disapproving remarks about Gul
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli had previously expressed their disapproval of Gül. Soylu accused him of releasing a Turkish citizen who had insulted his mother, and Bahçeli attacked Gül because MHP-affiliated lawyer Hamit Kocabey from the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, which oversees personnel decisions in responsible for the judiciary, had to resign.
Last year, Gül won a power struggle with the so-called “Istanbul Group,” which has called for his resignation. The group has a life of its own within the judiciary. This circle of judges and prosecutors, which also includes a lawyer for President Tayyip Erdogan, controls Turkey’s major political processes. Gül had also tried unsuccessfully to prevent Irfan Fidan from being appointed constitutional judge. Although he does not meet the legal requirements for this, he has been a member of the highest court for a year.
In the past, Gul has repeatedly criticized the interference of other ministers, especially Soylu, in the affairs of the judiciary, as well as the lack of implementation of the human rights plan announced by President Erdogan. Several opposition Turkish media reported that he recently spoke in a small circle about Turkey having become a police state and that the balance between freedom and security had shifted in favor of security.
Erdogan appointed Bekir Bozdag as the new justice minister. With one short break, he was Minister of Justice from 2013 to 2017. President Erdogan also fired the head of the statistics agency, Said Erdal Dinçer, on Saturday. Dinçer was criticized for announcing a 36 percent year-on-year increase in consumer prices for December.
www.faz.net
