İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Secretary-general Hayri Baraçlı announced on Friday that he and his seven assistants and legal advisor have all resigned in order to allow the city’s newly elected mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, to work with a team he establishes himself, Turkish media reports said.
In a joint statement posted by Baraçlı on Twitter, he said deputy secretaries-general Muzaffer Hacımustafaoğlu, Mevlüt Bulut, Süleyman Karalı, Nihat Macit, Çağatay Kalkancı, Eyyüp Karahan and Adil Karaismailoğlu and legal advisor Ali Karaaslan have all voluntarily resigned.
They said the mayoral election in İstanbul took place in a democratic atmosphere, they respect İmamoğlu’s success and are resigning in line with their belief in democracy and so that İmamoğlu can work with his own team.
Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayoral candidate İmamoğlu garnered around 54 percent of the vote in İstanbul, while his rival, Justice and Development Party (AKP) mayoral candidate Binali Yıldırım, received some 45 percent.
İmamoğlu also won in the local elections held across Turkey on March 31 as the İstanbul mayoral candidate; however, his term as mayor lasted only 18 days as the Supreme Election Council annulled the results of the vote over an appeal filed by the AKP, citing irregularities in the election.
On Thursday İmamoğlu accepted the mandate from the İstanbul Provincial Election Board for a second time, officially beginning his job.