Jurist. Former heavy penal judge and former deputy justice minister. Appointed as the chief public prosecutor of İstanbul on Oct 2.
During his time as the presiding judge of the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court, Gürlek became an important figure in political trials.
He was promoted to first class judge in Apr 2021. Gürlek was appointed as the deputy justice minister on Jun 1, 2022.
Akın Gürlek graduated from Marmara University Law School in 2005. He was born in 1982 in Nevşehir, is married, and has one child.
Here is a list of the political cases he presided over:
He was the presiding judge of the court that convicted columnists for daily Sözcü for "aiding an illegal organization."
That court sentenced Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş to 4 years and 8 months in prison and former HDP deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder to 3 years and 6 months in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."
It also sentenced Progressive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD) lawyers to 159 years in prison in total.
It sentenced Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the İstanbul chair of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), to 9 years and 8 months in prison because of her social media posts. It declared journalist Can Dündar a "fugitive" and issued an order to confiscate his real estate.
The court headed by Gürlek sentenced former Cumhuriyet reporter Canan Coşkun to 2 years and 3 months in prison for "marking counterterrorism officials as a target."
It sentenced Sebnem Korur-Fincancı, the head of the Turkish Medical Association, to 2 years and 6 months in prison.
Gürlek also gave a decision defying the verdict of the Constitutional Court in the case concerning journalist Enis Berberoğlu.
After this decision, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), the country's judicial overseeing body, promoted Gürlek to the position of "first class judge," violating its own principle that "judges who do not comply with Constitutional Court rulings cannot be promoted."
The HSK hasn't investigated the complaints against Gürlek. On the contrary, it paved the way for Gürlek's appointment to the Court of Cassation, the top appeals court, and the Constitutional Court, as a "first class judge."
Esenyurt mayor’s arrest
On Oct 30, Ahmet Özer, mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district, was arrested on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and subsequently replaced by a trustee. Despite a confidentiality order it previously issued, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office released a statement detailing the investigation, which drew criticism for its handling of sensitive information.
In response, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel began referring to Akın Gürlek as a “mobile guillotine,” accusing him of being used by the ruling power in politically sensitive cases: "Akın Gürlek, the mobile guillotine, the one who severs justice at the neck. He’s the one who banned Canan Kaftancıoğlu, handled the Hrant Dink case, and the Sırrı Süreyya case. Each of these cases is from different courts, but they rush him around to handle them all. Go impose a ban in Ankara, then run to İstanbul for a massacre, Akın.” (VK)
