An all-out struggle against operations targeting local government

WHY THE OPERATIONS?

Having lost the vast majority of metropolitan municipalities in the 2024 local elections, the ruling bloc realised that the consolidation of the will expressed at the ballot box posed a risk to its central authority. The government perceived local administrations and their leaders as a major threat and intervened:

Rendering elections meaningless: Reversing local balances of power that could not be changed through voters’ preferences by means of judicial investigations, threats to appoint trustees or defections designed to alter the arithmetic of municipal councils. The message was clear: “Whatever you do, I remain in power.”

Destroying the morale for the opposition: By targeting the municipalities with Turkey’s largest budgets, the government seeks both to undermine the opposition’s capacity to provide services and to shatter its moral advantage.

Concentrating all authority at the centre: Bringing the resources and staff of metropolitan municipalities into line with the central government and concentrating state resources in a single pair of hands in the run-up to a possible early or scheduled general election.

Perhaps the most significant consequence of these operations and defections is the profound sense of hopelessness and helplessness they create among broad sections of society. The removal or defection of mayors elected by popular vote in this manner reinforces concerns that “the ballot box has lost its meaning”.

The opposition’s attempt to respond to the government’s wide-ranging moves solely through press statements in the affected localities and countermeasures in the courts has proved grossly inadequate. This inadequacy has directly affected the morale of social opposition.

TALK OF PUBLIC SERVICE IS NOT ENOUGH

The existence of mayors who have defected, those who have not and even those who say they will not but then withdraw to the sidelines has also played an important role in undermining the effectiveness of the struggle. First Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş and then İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay posed for photographs with Erdoğan at Beştepe. Their statements appeared almost to have been written by the same hand: “We discussed our own problems and exchanged views on investment. What matters is serving our city and our people.”

A familiar saying sums up the position of these two mayors and others who have made similar statements: “The forest is burning, and the peasant is asking how much his timber is worth.”

The operations against municipalities, offers to defect and blackmail cannot be separated from the order the regime is seeking to establish. Those who fail to respond forcefully to these moves and explain their silence in terms of a “passion for public service” are either incapable of grasping the situation or lack the courage to confront the government. In either case, far from being worthy of seeking new positions, they are not even doing justice to the offices they currently occupy.

Opposition parties are unfortunately struggling to display a comprehensive, proactive and forceful political response to the government’s systematic operations against local administrations and its efforts to induce defections. Treating each crisis as an isolated incident is insufficient to thwart the political engineering that the government is constructing step by step or its strategy of usurping the people’s will. Confining the struggle to courthouse corridors or temporary press statements prevents the development of the anticipated mass resistance within society.

The greatest impasse is the failure to construct a legal and political shield under the umbrella of a common democratic front, instead of responding separately on behalf of every municipality and political figure targeted. This fragmented approach, which submits to an agenda determined by the government and remains perpetually on the defensive instead of pursuing proactive politics, creates a profound sense of helplessness and isolation among voters when it should be restoring their confidence.

Yet the issue is not merely the seats occupied by a handful of mayors; it is the will of the people itself. That will cannot be protected by seeking help at the Palace gates, but through an uncompromising common front of struggle built in the streets, parliament and public squares.

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PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR SEÇER

As part of the investigation in Mersin, 59 people including Union of Municipalities of Turkey President and Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer and two other mayors were referred to the courthouse. Citizens gathered outside the courthouse to show their support for Seçer. The crowd chanted: “Mayor Vahap”, “Young people choose the future, Vahap Seçer chooses tomorrow”, “The youth are here, standing with their mayor” and “Vahap Seçer belongs to Mersin, and Mersin belongs to us.”

Meanwhile, 28 people who had been detained four days earlier, including Eyüpsultan Mayor Mithat Bülent Özmen, were referred to Ankara Courthouse. Those detained had been accused of “membership of a criminal organisation”, “accepting bribes”, “giving bribes” and “bid rigging”.

Finally, 13 people, including Ataşehir Deputy Mayor Murat Güneş, were referred to the Istanbul Anatolian Courthouse after police procedures were completed as part of the investigation targeting the municipality.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Yerel operasyona topyekun mücadele, published in BirGün newspaper on October 6, 2026.