MHP’s Feti Yıldız Warns Against Routine Arrests: “Detentions Must Be a Last Resort”

MHP Deputy Chair and lawyer Feti Yıldız marked World Law Day (July 10) with a public statement calling for restraint in the use of pretrial detention, stressing that such measures should only be applied in exceptional and absolutely necessary circumstances.

Referring to Turkey’s Criminal Procedure Code, Yıldız emphasized that liberty-restricting measures like arrests must remain a last resort and not become normalized legal practice.

“The authority to detain must only be exercised when delay poses a clear danger,” Yıldız said in a social media post.

“Reject Formulaic Justifications for Arrests”

Yıldız rejected the growing trend of standardized detention reasoning, arguing that each case must be handled with judicial discretion and not based on routine templates. He warned that increasing instances of arrests, particularly those involving politically sensitive investigations, undermine public trust in the justice system.

Historical Example: Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s Trial

To highlight the principle of rule of law, Yıldız referenced a famous Ottoman-era case in which Fatih Sultan Mehmet was summoned to court by Judge Hızır Bey after a Byzantine architect filed a complaint. The sultan reportedly obeyed the summons, stood trial, and accepted the verdict without protest.

“When Fatih was found guilty, he commended the judge: ‘I respect you, because you fear not me, but God.’”
Yıldız cited this anecdote as proof that judicial independence and accountability are long-standing traditions in Turkish legal history.

Context: Silent Critique Amid Rising Political Detentions

While Yıldız refrained from mentioning any specific cases, his remarks come at a time of heightened scrutiny over high-profile detentions—including those involving Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality employees and opposition politicians like Zeydan Karalar and Abdurrahman Tutdere. The timing of his statement has been interpreted as a subtle critique of judicial overreach and politically motivated arrests.

Yıldız underlined that arbitrary detentions must not replace fair trials as the foundation of justice in Türkiye.