Power Play: Turkish Government Seizes Control of Opposition-Led Municipality
- Following the appointment of a trustee to the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) led by Esenyurt Municipal District and the arrest of the mayor, a trustee was...
- Can Aksoy, who was appointed to the municipality as a trustee after the elected mayor Ahmet Özer arrested him on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization," transferred...
- Gül Çifti, deputy chairman of the CHP responsible for Elections and Party Legal Affairs, shared the decision on X, stating, "After the appointment of a trustee to the...
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Following the appointment of a trustee to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) led by Esenyurt Municipal District and the arrest of the mayor, a trustee was also assigned to the Municipal Council on November 4, resulting in no elected officials remaining in the municipality.
Can Aksoy, who was appointed to the municipality as a trustee after the elected mayor Ahmet Özer arrested him on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization,” transferred the duties and powers of the elected council to the appointed civil servants.
Gül Çifti, deputy chairman of the CHP responsible for Elections and Party Legal Affairs, shared the decision on X, stating, “After the appointment of a trustee to the mayor’s office, a trustee has also effectively been appointed to the municipal council, and the second of the four votes cast in Esenyurt on March 31 has been disregarded. We will use all our legal rights against this illegality. The trustee mentality will eventually lose, and the will of the people will prevail.”
The mindset that appointed a trustee to Esenyurt has now set its sights on the municipal council.
In the letter sent with the signature of the trustee Can Aksoy, the duties of the council members were illegally transferred to civil servants. After his term as mayor, a de facto trustee was appointed to the municipal council and 31 governors were appointed to the municipal council in Esenyurt. pic.twitter.com/16bf5GTDzd
— Gul Ciftci (@gulciftci) November 4, 2024
Immediately after the appointment of the trustee, the CHP meeting room in the municipality was also closed. The council members moved to the street, unable to enter.
This is fascism!
Our Esenyurt Municipal CHP Group Chamber is locked down on the instructions of the Trustee.
You usurp the will of the people, you will stay under it! pic.twitter.com/jqqAiP5LOS
— Erdinç Aktaş (@Erdinccaktas) November 4, 2024
On the same day, Esenyurt Deputy Mayors Oktay Kılıç, Murat Düzgün, and Osman Yalçın were dismissed from their positions and replaced by appointed officials from the governor’s office.