Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, Özgür Özel, on Tuesday accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of violating the constitution during parliamentary elections to the country’s top judicial body, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), and announced plans for legal action to suspend the results.
Speaking after a closed-door meeting with Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-leaders Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, Özel criticised what he called the AKP’s unlawful manipulation of voting rounds to handpick favourable candidates. “This is a textbook example of illegality,” said Özel, who leads the centre-left CHP.
According to the Turkish Constitution, candidates to the HSK must pass through a two-round voting process in parliament. If no candidate secures the required majority, the two with the highest votes should proceed to a lottery. Özel said the AKP, supported by its far-right ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), circumvented this by inventing an unconstitutional third round of voting.
“They split their 30 votes equally between two AKP-backed candidates and forced them into the draw,” Özel told reporters, calling the move “audacious” and “an act of constitutional pickpocketing”.
Özel said the CHP would appeal to the Constitutional Court once the election process concludes, possibly as early as Tuesday, and would request a stay of execution.
“There are no ambiguities,” he added. “The constitution is explicit: two rounds, then a draw. There’s no such thing as a third round. This is not just trickery—it’s institutional sabotage.”
The controversy highlights long-standing tensions over judicial independence in Turkey, where critics say the government has tightened control over the courts through appointments and constitutional amendments since a failed coup attempt in 2016.
