The Ministry of Interior continues to dismiss the co-mayors of municipalities against whom there is no finalised court decision and appoint trustees to replace them. Today, the Ministry appointed trustees to Kagizman Municipality of Qers (Kars), which is governed by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). Thus, the number of municipalities to which trustees have been appointed since the local elections held on 31 March 2024 increased to 12.

 

The Ministry appointed a trustee co Colmêrg (Hakkari) Municipality on 3 June. Co-mayor Sıddık Akış was arrested with trustee decision and sentenced to 19 years and 6 months on 5 June. 

 

'URBAN CONSENSUS' MODEL TARGETED

 

CHP Mayor of Esenyurt Ahmet Özer, who was elected through the "Urban Consensus" model, was detained and arrested on 30 October 2024 on charges of "terrorist organization membership". Özer was replaced by Istanbul Deputy Governor Can Aksoy as trustee on 31 October.

 

On 4 November, trustees were appointed to the DEM Party-run municipalities of Mêrdîn (Mardin) Metropolitan, Êlih (Batman) and Xelfetî (Halfeti) in Riha (Urfa).

 

Trustee appointments continued on 22 November. Trustees were appointed to DEM Party's Dêrsim Municipality and CHP's Pulur (Ovacık) Municipality. On 20 November, Cevdet Konak, Co-mayor of Dêrsim Municipality and Mustafa Sarıgül, Mayor of Pulur Municipality from CHP, were sentenced to 6 years and 3 months imprisonment each. 

 

On 29 November, Ayvaz Hazır, co-mayor of Miks (Bahçesaray) Municipality in Wan (Van) was dismissed and a trustee was appointed in his place. Hazır's dismissal was based on a 3-year and 11-month sentence given to him in 2015 for a press statement he had watched while working in the press department of the municipality and an investigation against him for "terror propaganda".

 

TRUSTEE TO AKDENIZ MUNICIPALITY

 

Nuriye Arslan and Hoşyar Sarıyıldız, co-mayors of the DEM Party-run Mersin Akdeniz Municipality, were arrested after being detained on 10 January. A trustee was appointed to Akdeniz Municipality on 14 January.

 

Sofya Alağaş, co-mayor of Sêrt (Siirt) Municipality, who was charged with "terrorist organization membership" while working as a journalist, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison on 28 January. The Ministry of Interior dismissed Sofya Alağaş on 29 January and appointed the governor in her place.

 

Wan Metropolitan Municipality Co-mayor Abdullah Zeydan was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison during the retrial of his retrial on charges of "aiding terrorist organization" on 11 January. On 15 February, a trustee was appointed to the municipality. 

 

Today, a trustee was appointed to Kagizman district of Qers. Co-mayor Mehmet Alkan was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison for "terrorist organization membership" on 20 February. Alkan was dismissed on the grounds of this sentence.