European Parliament Names Türkiye's Justice Minister in Sanctions Call

By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk

The European Parliament adopted its 2025 report on Türkiye on Wednesday by 381 votes in favour, 107 against and 171 abstentions, calling on the European Union to consider targeted sanctions against justice minister Akın Gürlek and concluding that accession negotiations cannot be revived under current conditions.

The resolution, drafted by Spanish Socialist MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor as the Parliament's standing rapporteur on Türkiye, responds to the European Commission's 2025 progress report. European Parliament resolutions are non-binding. Any sanctions listing under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime would require a proposal through the EU foreign policy process and unanimous approval by all 27 member states in the Council of the European Union.

Why Gürlek was named

Gürlek was appointed justice minister by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in February 2026 after serving as Istanbul's chief public prosecutor, a post that placed him at the centre of politically contested judicial cases in Türkiye.

As Istanbul chief prosecutor, Gürlek's office led the investigation into Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been held in pretrial detention since March 2025 on corruption charges. The case drew international criticism from officials and rights groups, while Türkiye's government has rejected claims of political interference in judicial proceedings.

The sanctions wording carries an important technical distinction. The European Parliament has previously urged restrictive measures against categories of Turkish officials, including judicial actors and officials involved in trustee appointments. The June 17, 2026 Türkiye report goes further by naming Gürlek directly and calling for his inclusion under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. That makes the Gürlek reference the Parliament's first direct name-based sanctions call against a Turkish official in its enlargement-report track, while remaining a political recommendation rather than an EU sanctions decision.

The text also addresses pressure on the Republican People's Party (CHP), condemning İmamoğlu's detention and referring to the May 2026 court ruling that annulled the party's 2023 congress, removed Özgür Özel from the leadership and reinstated former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on an interim basis. European lawmakers described the ruling as part of a broader campaign against the opposition.

Ankara rejects the report

Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the resolution in a formal statement, saying the report contained "flawed assessments based on misinformation and unfounded claims by anti-Türkiye circles."

The ministry said the report appeared to have been drafted with a "deliberate political agenda" and argued that it sought to overshadow what it described as the current positive agenda at a time when the strategic importance of Türkiye-EU relations was increasing. It also accused the Parliament of offering a platform to "terrorist organizations and anti-Türkiye circles" rather than adopting a strategic vision for the future of relations.

"The Turkish judiciary, one of the fundamental pillars of our state's sovereignty, is not open to interference from any international institution, external actor or political circle," the ministry said.

Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran issued a sharper response that tied the report to wider regional disputes. He rejected what he called "baseless and unfair assessments regarding Blue Homeland," criticism of Türkiye's position on Cyprus and support for Greece's maritime claims.

Duran also rejected the report's language on Gürlek, saying Türkiye conducts its judicial processes through its own institutions within the rule of law.

Akif Çağatay Kılıç, senior adviser to the president on foreign policy and security, said the report reflected "the political and ideological priorities of various circles rather than the strategic realities of Türkiye-EU relations." He argued that the current international environment required strategic vision and constructive cooperation rather than prejudice.

Accession, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean

The Parliament said formal accession negotiations, effectively frozen since 2018, cannot resume under current conditions. MEPs called on Türkiye to address deficiencies in the rule of law, judicial independence, press freedom and democratic standards before any revival of the membership track.

The report devotes a large section to the Eastern Mediterranean. It criticises Türkiye's Blue Homeland doctrine, voices concern over Türkiye's 1995 parliamentary position treating a Greek extension of territorial waters in the Aegean to 12 nautical miles as a cause for war, and rejects the Türkiye-Libya maritime memorandum as incompatible with the sovereign rights of third states and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Parliament also criticised Türkiye's use of NAVTEX notices and its objections to regional energy projects, including the Great Sea Interconnector and EastMed pipeline. Ankara has long rejected Greek and Greek Cypriot maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, arguing that they restrict Türkiye's continental shelf and ignore Turkish Cypriot rights.

On Cyprus, the report reaffirmed the Parliament's support for a bizonal, bicommunal federation within the United Nations framework and rejected Türkiye's advocacy of a two-state settlement. Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot side argue that a federal formula has been exhausted and that any new process must reflect the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots.

The resolution also renewed the Parliament's call for Türkiye to meet the remaining benchmarks for visa liberalisation and said modernisation of the EU-Türkiye Customs Union cannot move forward without democratic progress. It separately criticised what it described as the promotion of a religiously conservative moral agenda by Turkish authorities, returning secularism to the Parliament's Türkiye file after several years in which it had been less prominent.

The vote leaves the Türkiye-EU track divided between active cooperation and political blockage just weeks before NATO leaders meet in Ankara. Security, migration, trade and regional diplomacy keep the relationship operating, but the Parliament's report returns rule-of-law disputes, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean to the front of the political file as allies prepare to gather on Turkish soil.

Sources: European Parliament report A10-0106/2026 and procedure file 2025/2256(INI), European Parliament plenary vote records, Associated Press, Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Türkiye Justice Ministry, statements by Burhanettin Duran and Akif Çağatay Kılıç, Bosphorus News review and reporting.