Turkish government appoints 149 trustees to municipalities since 2016

With the most recent trustee appointments to municipalities run by the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the Turkish government has appointed a total of 149 trustees to various municipalities since the state of emergency declared in 2016.

Wednesday November 06 2024 01:23 am

DEM Party deputies hold signs in parliament that read, "The municipalities are ours, no to trustees!"

Duvar English

The Turkish government has appointed trustees to 149 municipalities since the state of emergency of 2016, according to reporting by the ANKA news agency.

The state of emergency brought about significant changes in local administrations with the presidential decree No. 674, which allowed for the appointment of trustees to municipalities.

Amendments enabled the Interior Minister to appoint a mayor, acting mayor, or council member in metropolitan and provincial municipalities, while governors had this authority in other municipalities.

While the autonomy of local administrations was guaranteed under Article 127 of the Constitution, the trustee practice led to local administrations falling under central government control.

According to a report prepared by Lawyers for Freedom, trustee practices led to the removal of 96 out of 102 co-mayors elected from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) in 2016, with trustees appointed in their place. 57 co-mayors faced arrest.

The trustee practice continued after the 2019 local elections. Starting on August 19, 2019, six co-mayors and 56 council members from 65 municipalities run by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were denied certification. Trustees were appointed to 48 of the 65 municipalities won by the HDP. During this period, many council members were also detained.

Meanwhile, the report “Trustee Usurpation of Will and Urban Destruction” by The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects Chambers (TMMOB)’s Trustee Practices and Monitoring Commission noted that many properties were sold and contracts awarded through direct invitations to affiliates, funneling resources.

It stated that 8,334 permanent and outsourced personnel and 923 civil servants were dismissed, as a result of the trustee appointments in 2016 and 2019, totaling 9,237 dismissals.

In the local elections of 2024, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, including the 65 municipalities previously assigned trustees in 2019, increased its number of municipalities to 78.

DEM Party won the southeastern Diyarbakır, Mardin, and eastern Van metropolitan municipalities, along with seven provinces, 58 districts, and 10 townships.

The report revealed that the Justice Ministry had applied for the restoration of civil rights for Abdullah Zeydan, the DEM Party candidate for Van Metropolitan Municipality, who secured 55 percent of the vote. On March 29, two days before the election, Zeydan’s civil rights, including voting and candidacy, were revoked five minutes before the end of business hours due to an appeal. Following this, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) petitioned the provincial election board to award the certificate to their candidate, Abdulahat Arvas, who received 27 percent of the vote.

The board accepted the request and awarded the certificate to Arvas. The decision was perceived by the public as an indirect trustee appointment. After protests, Zeydan received his certificate on April 5 when the Supreme Election Board (YSK) accepted the appeal.

The co-mayor of the eastern Hakkari Municipality, Mehmet Sıddık Akış, was arrested on June 3, 2024. Lawyers learned that the prosecutor’s office had detained him in connection with an ongoing 2024 investigation. Akış was removed from office, and Hakkari Governor Ali Çelik was appointed as trustee. On June 5, Akış was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in prison and detained following the verdict.

Ahmet Özer, who was elected as mayor of Esenyurt from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in the 2024 local elections, was detained at his home one day prior to the elections on March 30. The Interior Ministry announced that Özer had been suspended on October 31 for "being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)." The ministry appointed Istanbul Deputy Governor Can Aksoy as acting mayor.

Most recently on Nov. 4, the Interior Ministry removed the southeastern Mardin Metropolitan Mayor Ahmet Türk, Batman Mayor Gülistan Sönük, and Halfeti district Mayor Mehmet Karayılan, all from DEM Party, from office.

Mardin Governor Tuncay Akkoyun was appointed to Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, Batman Governor Ekrem Canalp to Batman Municipality, and Halfeti District Governor Hakan Başoğlu to Halfeti Municipality as trustees.

This marked the third trustee appointment for both Batman and Mardin municipalities. The justification for removing Ahmet Türk was his ten-year prison sentence in the Kobani trial, alongside ongoing cases and investigations against him.

Additionally, DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit stated that 149 of their municipalities had been assigned trustees to date.

According to the “Local Services and Trustee Report” by Spectrum House Research Center, trustee appointments implemented after the 2016 coup attempt negatively impacted local services. Despite political party differences, most citizens in Turkey’s eastern and southeastern regions believed the practice represented an intervention in local representation, voting rights, and freedom of organization.

The survey takers also indicated that trustees harmed societal peace. Only 13.1 percent of respondents viewed trustee practices as "right," while three out of four participants opposed them.