Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesman Faik Oztrak says the removal of three Kurdish mayors from their posts is a coup organized by the AK Party (AKP) government targeting the honor of elections in Turkey, Gazete Duvar news portal reported on Monday.
Early on Monday morning, the Ministry of Interior announced that three mayors of Turkey’s key provinces from the mainly Kurdish southeast, Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Van had been dismissed from their positions.
The Turkish government-appointed interim mayors replacing the democratically elected trio.
They are Diyarbakir Mayor Adnan Selcuk Mizrakli, Mardin Mayor Ahmet Turk and Van Mayor Bedia Ozgokce Ertan and all of them are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Following a meeting chaired by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of CHP, Oztrak stated to the press that “the ruling AKP has orchestrated a coup against the will of the people and the honor of elections in Turkey.”
“The dismissals are unlawful. If those who are elected into office will be replaced by appointed trustees, there is no meaning for elections,” he added.
Oztrak underlined that as the main opposition CHP they declare once again that they support the rule of law and the superiority of the right to elect and be elected.
Noting that the fight against terrorism is Turkey’s common issue, Oztrak warned that oppression on people’s will should not be used as a political tool in that fight.
Referring to Article 68 of the Constitution, which states that “political parties are indispensable elements of democratic political life,” he elaborated that the CHP considers protecting the rights of people who vote for parties other than itself as the same with protecting democracy.
“The last remaining element of democratic legitimacy is the ballot box [the elections]. Any blow dealt with the law of the ballot box, is a blow dealt with Turkey altogether. The rule in democracies [about elections] is very simple. Those who come to office through elections, leave through the elections,” Oztrak underlined.
The Turkish government dismissed 90 out of 103 HDP mayors, including Turk, from their offices and replaced them with government-appointed officials in the aftermath of a failed putsch bid on July 15, 2016.
Turkey’s election authority also decided soon after the March vote that at least four HDP district mayors would be barred from office and their posts be given to runner ups from the governing AKP.
The post CHP accuses AKP of election coup after removal of Kurdish mayors appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/08/20/chp-accuses-akp-of-election-coup-after-removal-of-kurdish-mayors/
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