YENİ Party rally in Üsküdar: Özel explains municipal council process

YENİ Party gathered at Üsküdar İskele Square; General Chairman Özgür Özel detailed the council process that followed after jailed Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was removed from office.

Following Dedetaş's removal, the deputy mayor election won by CHP's Sibel Tan Çetinkaya was annulled by the Istanbul Governorate following AKP's objection. During the Governorate process that set the new election date, two CHP council members were detained while four members defected to the AKP. In the subsequent vote, Cumhur İttifakı candidate Dündar Ziya Gültekin was elected deputy mayor with 23 votes.

Üsküdar is not experiencing this protocol for the first time: in 2023, a similar trustee controversy had centered political discourse in other districts of Istanbul; this time the process directly resulted in altering the elected council's arithmetic.

YENİ Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik claimed that judicial pressure was applied to members who switched to the AKP. Özel, meanwhile, said at the rally "They actually aimed for more than this," arguing that the government's true objective was not limited to a single district.

The rally took place in the evening.