Ahmet Özer, mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district, was detained early on Wednesday over alleged links to the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and is now facing a court request for arrest. Özer was elected with the joint backing of Turkey’s main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party through a “city consensus” arrangement in Esenyurt, a densely populated district with a significant Kurdish community.
CHP leaders, joined by hundreds of supporters, gathered at İstanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse to protest what they describe as politically motivated charges. Ali Ekber Cömert, CHP’s İstanbul Deputy Chair, denied a claim from pro-government newspaper Sabah that a state-appointed trustee might replace Özer, calling it an attempt to undermine Esenyurt’s elected administration. “I confirmed—no trustee appointment order exists, but there’s an attempt to create this perception,” Cömert said as CHP members monitored events at both the courthouse and Esenyurt Municipality, where supporters gathered, chanting “justice and rights!”
In Turkey, the trusteeship practice allows the government to replace an elected mayor with a state-appointed official if they are accused of links to banned groups. This practice has primarily targeted mayors from pro-Kurdish parties, especially the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP, a predecessor to the DEM Party), resulting in widespread trustee appointments. A trusteeship in Esenyurt would be the first time this measure has been applied to a CHP-led municipality.
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a prominent CHP figure, criticised the early-morning raid and detention, viewing it as part of a broader pattern of targeting opposition figures. Supporters from CHP and DEM Party now await the court’s decision on whether the prosecutor’s arrest request for Özer will be granted, determined to support Esenyurt’s elected mayor.
