David Eray (Switzerland, EPP/CCE) and Bryony Rudkin (United Kingdom, SOC/G/PD), co-Rapporteurs of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on local democracy in Türkiye, have made the following statement:
"The recent dismissal of Abdullah Zeydan, mayor of the Metropolitan municipality of Van and a member of the Turkish delegation to the Congress, and his replacement with an appointed official is matter of grave concern. It cannot be ignored.
"Mr Zeydan has already faced an attempt to overturn the results of his election but was reinstated by decision of Türkiye's Supreme Electoral Council. This recent move against him is therefore the last link in a chain of deliberate and calculated delegitimisation.
"Sadly, it is also part of a wider and undemocratic pattern.
"Since Türkiye's 2024 local elections - observed by the Congress - ten opposition party mayors have been removed, resulting in the votes of close to four million voters being discarded. Many opposition mayors also face judicial proceedings, defamation lawsuits and long prison sentences, amid persisting violations of the rule of law and fundamental freedoms.
"The specific practice of replacing democratically elected opposition party mayors with trustees is undermining the very nature of democracy, as both the Congress and the Venice Commission have made clear on many occasions.
"At its last session, the Congress reaffirmed in Recommendation 519(2024) the need to abolish this practice and called on the authorities to ensure that ineligibility of candidates is assessed prior to the elections and based on a final criminal conviction. Candidates deemed eligible must be allowed to freely exercise their mandates, in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which is binding on all Council of Europe member States. In the event of a mayor's dismissal, municipal councils should be able to choose a replacement mayor.
"We will bring these latest developments to the attention of the Congress Monitoring Committee on 25 February 2025 in Strasbourg and decide on the Congress' next steps. We will also hold an exchange of views with members of the Turkish delegation attending the meeting. We call on the Turkish authorities to stop this practice and resume the political dialogue with the Congress rapporteurs to ensure the effective implementation of past recommendations."
