Turkish court rejects appeal against imprisonment of CHP-led municipality’s dismissed mayor

Duvar English

A Turkish court on Nov. 6 rejected the appeal against the imprisonment of Ahmet Özer, the elected mayor of Istanbul's Esenyurt district, who was removed from office and replaced with a trustee after being arrested last week.

Özer from the main-opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was elected as the mayor with 49% of the vote in the 2024 local elections, but was arrested last week on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization."

In addition to the 40-page appeal petition submitted by Özer's lawyers, a 38-page scientific opinion prepared by academics Kemal Yıldız and Tolga Şirin was also included to the application, according to the reporting by daily BirGun.

The petition stated that due to Özer's academic and political identity, he had an extensive communication network and made phone calls with hundreds of people, but did not communicate with the 694 individuals "investigated due to their ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)" as claimed.

The petition stated that "Özer did not adopt the PKK's goals, ideology, or objectives" and had been a member of the CHP for over 10 years.

However, Istanbul's 11th Criminal Court of First Instance rejected the appeal.

After the appointment of the trustee, all of the elected officials from the CHP was dismissed and their entrance to the municipality building was barred.

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