A delegation from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has formally appealed the arrest of Ahmet Özer, the CHP mayor of Esenyurt, İstanbul’s most densely populated district, Deutsche Welle’s Turkish service (DW Türkçe) reported on Wednesday.
Özer was arrested on terrorism-related charges last week and subsequently removed from office. The Turkish Interior Ministry immediately replaced him with İstanbul Deputy Governor Can Aksoy.
The appeal was submitted at the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan by Özer’s daughter, Seraf Özer, a lawyer, and İstanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu, along with a CHP delegation. CHP officials and the plaintiff’s lawyers held a press conference after presenting the formal petition.
“The will of the people in Esenyurt has been seized through a politicized judiciary,” CHP Vice Chairman Murat Bakan told reporters, adding that the petition the lawyers submitted refutes all of the reasons for Özer’s arrest.
Seraf Özer claimed that the charges against her father were “unjust” and “baseless,” adding that Turkey’s judicial system has shattered citizens’ trust in the rule of law.
Meanwhile, the interior ministry announcement of the removal of three Kurdish mayors, representing the cities of Mardin and Batman as well as Halfeti, a district in Şanlıurfa Province, and their replacement with government officials continued to spark demonstrations across Turkey for a third day on Wednesday.
All three mayors are members of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), the main pro-Kurdish party, who were elected in the March local elections, when opposition candidates won in numerous towns and cities, including İstanbul.
The recent practice of appointing trustees to replace mayors in Turkey extends back to 2016 with the enactment of Decree Law No. 674, which amended Municipal Law No. 5393. This law allows for the replacement of mayors, acting mayors or municipal council members under investigation for terrorism-related offenses if they are detained, dismissed or barred from public service due to such charges.
The law was approved by parliament on November 10, 2016, shortly after a coup attempt in July 2016, which was followed by the declaration of a state of emergency. No lawmakers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the then-main pro-Kurdish party, attended the vote, and only 18 members of the CHP voted against it.
This law gave the central government broad authority over local governance, allowing it to intervene in municipal administration under the guise of national security.
According to data from the interior ministry, from the time of the enactment of Decree Law No. 674 to the local elections of March 31, 2019, trustees have been appointed to 101 municipalities across Turkey, 94 of whom were members of the HDP, a party accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. The pro-Kurdish parties deny any links to the outlawed group.