Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has long been under fire for eroding judicial independence, but as it recently turned out, it had kept the real rabbit in the hat. On June 13, the government submitted to parliament a bill envisaging a massive purge at two of the country's highest courts, which many say will put the last nail in the coffin of judicial independence and separation of powers.

The bill envisages the removal of all members of the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State, the top administrative court, except for their presidents, chief prosecutors and department chiefs. The changes would affect about 700 judges. The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) would then make new appointments from scratch. Most of the incumbent judges — particularly those seen as troublesome, according to critics — are bound to clean out their desks as the bill cuts down available positions to 416 and then gradually to less than 300.

The unprecedented bill, which came only days after a nationwide reshuffle of thousands of judges and prosecutors, is justified with the upcoming introduction of regional appeals courts, which will purportedly take a significant workload off the two courts and make much of their staff redundant, and with efforts to weed out members close to the Gulen movement, which was last month officially designated as a terrorist group.

Both arguments, however, are unconvincing. In December 2014, the government added 144 new members to the Supreme Court of Appeals and 33 more to the Council of State, ignoring criticism of bloating the courts. And in 2010, when it spearheaded constitutional amendments overhauling the judiciary, it had dismissed concerns that the changes would play into the hands of judges and prosecutors close to the Gulen community.