Marc Cools, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, has made the following statement:
"I condemn the escalating practice of dismissing and replacing elected mayors in Türkiye, a measure that both the Congress and the Venice Commission consider as undermining the very nature of local democracy. On 29 January, the Turkish authorities dismissed the elected mayor of Siirt, replacing her with a governor appointed by the Ministry of Interior. This mirrors a similar situation in Akdeniz Municipality earlier this month, which Stewart Dickson, Chair of the Council for Democratic Elections and Congress Spokesperson on Local and Regional elections noted with concern. Last November, I already deplored the removal of four mayors in comparable circumstances, yet this trend seems to persist.
"Respecting the will of voters is paramount for the Congress and, despite repeated calls from the Congress to end to this practice, an increasing number of Turkish citizens, who voted in the local elections held on 31 March 2024 - observed by the Congress - have seen their votes disregarded.
"At the last Congress 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.
"The latest developments, along with the Congress's next steps, will be discussed at the Congress Monitoring Committee meeting in February 2025 in Strasbourg. I look forward to the Rapporteurs resuming the political dialogue with the Turkish authorities in the coming weeks to ensure the effective implementation of past recommendations."
