We will not be silent!
23 March 2025
The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and 48 people, including district mayors, were arrested after three days of detention as part of the investigation against them. The investigation was carried out on the basis of allegations of ‘corruption’ and ‘aiding an armed organisation within the scope of urban consensus’.
As a result of the investigation, the mayor of Şişli district, Resul Emrah Şahan, was arrested on charges of “aiding an armed organisation”, and the governor of Şişli district was appointed as trustee in his place. We are well aware of the anti-democratic consequences of this practice for the peoples, which is a clear violation of the right to vote and stand for election, as the trustees were appointed to the municipalities that were elected with the votes of the Kurdish people.
The political will, in defiance of rights demands and peace and democratisation claims, continue its practices, which are no less than those of the coup d’etat periods. After the coup attempt on 15 July, the government issued the Decree Law No. 674 “authorizing the appointment of trustees in municipalities” and now there is a risk that trustees will be appointed in other district municipalities and in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. These practices are a blow to the demands of the people. The punishment of the “urban consensus”, which is a completely democratic attitude of the voters, is the continuation of the “no-solution” attitude imposed on the Kurdish question. Urban consensus is an electoral alliance and is legal and legitimate under the electoral legislation of Türkiye. As human rights defenders, we are calling out to the government – that’s enough! All arrested mayors, all political prisoners, sick prisoners in particular, should be released; demands for democratisation and civilianisation must be taken into account.
We would like to remind everyone once again that as human rights defenders, we will NOT BE SILENT!
Human Rights Association