By Daren Butler and Ezgi Erkoyun
ISTANBUL, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan appointed as his new justice minister Akin Gurlek, the Istanbul chief prosecutor behind the unprecedented crackdown on the main opposition party, drawing fierce criticism and defiance from the party on Wednesday.
Since his appointment as chief prosecutor in 2024, Gurlek has overseen a wave of arrests and indictments targeting the Republican People's Party (CHP), including investigations into the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's main political rival who has been jailed since his arrest in March last year.
In a 4,000-page indictment last November, Gurlek demanded a prison sentence of more than 2,000 years for Imamoglu for allegedly leading a vast corruption network, sparking Turkey's largest street protests in a decade.
The first hearing in that case, accusing hundreds of defendants linked to the Istanbul municipality of corruption and bribery, will be held next month.
FIRST CABINET SHUFFLE SINCE 2023 VOTE
In the first cabinet shuffle since mid-2023 elections, Gurlek replaced Yilmaz Tunc, who was first elected as a member of parliament in 2007.
The Official Gazette announcement also said that Erdogan had appointed Erzurum provincial governor Mustafa Ciftci as interior minister, replacing Ali Yerlikaya, who was the Istanbul governor before his appointment as minister.
A reason for the shuffle was not given.
Hundreds of party members and elected officials have been detained in Gurlek's crackdown, which has been criticised as anti-democratic and politicised by opposition parties, right groups and some foreign leaders - claims the government denies, saying the judiciary is independent.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said Gurlek's cabinet appointment continued a "judicial coup attempt" while he was prosecutor and amounted to the latest step in a major attack on his party.
"We will not surrender... They cannot stop our march to power,” Ozel told reporters at a memorial ceremony for a former party leader, adding that there was no fair political competition left.
(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Tomasz Janowski)
