The Turkish government has removed 154 mayors from office, most often on accusations related to terrorism in the last eight years, replacing them with government-appointed trustees, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing a new report published by the Republican People’s Party.
The report, titled “Government Trustee Interventions: Threats to Democracy and the Constitution in Local Elections,” argues that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has used the practice to override election results and tighten control over opposition-held municipalities.
According to the report, mayors were usually removed on terrorism-related charges, including alleged links to terrorist organizations, accusations the government has used to justify appointing trustees under Decree Law No. 674. The law, introduced in 2016, gave authorities broad powers to dismiss elected officials deemed a security threat without judicial review.
Between 2016 and 2024, trustee appointments affected municipalities representing more than 11.2 million voters, the report said. Diyarbakır saw 26 appointments overall, the highest in any province, followed by Van with 23.
The majority occurred in 2016 after a failed coup, when the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions and other entities under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. That year, 60 municipalities were placed under trustee control, followed by 38 in 2019 and 16 in 2020. Some municipalities have faced repeated interventions.
The report also examined conditions ahead of Turkey’s March 31, 2024, local elections, noting that 49 municipalities were under trustee administration at the time. Of those, nine were later won by the AKP or its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party.
The report argued that trustee appointments violate constitutional provisions guaranteeing the independence of local administrations. It highlighted specific articles of the Turkish Constitution — Articles 2, 5, 123, and 127 — as safeguarding democratic principles and local governance.