Today’s (Wednesday) swearing-in session in Türkiye’s parliament was anything but ordinary. A few minutes were enough for the legislative chamber to turn into a mob and fist fight after opposition representatives tried to prevent the new justice minister from being sworn in.
The scene could be described as shocking, with deputies charging, screaming and hands in the air. In one of the most tense sessions, camera lenses captured the moment punches were exchanged between representatives of the ruling party and those of the opposition.
The impetus came when former Istanbul prosecutor Akin Gurlik took to the podium for the constitutional oath after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed him justice minister as part of a new cabinet reshuffle.
Gorlik is not a temporary name in the Turkish scene. While working in Istanbul, he presided over high-profile trials involving leaders of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which the party described as “politically motivated”.
Representatives of the opposition tried to disrupt the swearing-in ceremony, believing the appointment to be a political message at a sensitive time, while representatives of the ruling party lined up around the new minister to secure his oath. In the end, Gorlik was sworn in with clear support from the Justice and Development bloc.
The cabinet reshuffle is not limited to the Ministry of Justice; President Erdoğan also appointed Erzurum Governor Mustafa Şifci as Minister of Interior. No official statement has been released regarding the reasons for the ministerial changes, but the official gazette states that former ministers “requested an exemption.”
Opposition parties see the appointments as a tightening of political control ahead of expected constitutional reforms, but the government maintains that the judiciary operates with complete independence and that constitutional changes are within the president’s constitutional powers.
