Erdoğan's 'DEM Party' remarks brought Esenyurt and Şişli to mind

AKP President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his statement today at his party's 32nd Consultation and Evaluation Meeting in Ankara's Kızılcahamam district, "As the AKP, MHP and DEM Party, we have decided to walk this path together."

In the speech in question, Erdoğan emphasized that a commission would be established in Parliament as part of the process and that the door to dialogue was wide open.

Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Pervin Buldan, a member of the DEM Party's İmralı delegation, issued a statement, stating that Erdoğan's statements implied a "process alliance" and did not imply that the DEM Party was part of the People's Alliance. Buldan said, "Let's not misinterpret this. This alliance is a process alliance. It should definitely not be perceived as any other alliance."

TRUSTEES CAME TO MIND

However, Erdoğan's remarks brought to mind the operations and trustee decisions carried out in the 2024 local elections in Esenyurt and Şişli, districts won by the DEM Party and CHP as a result of their "urban agreement." Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, in particular, was arrested on October 30, 2024, on allegations of "PKK-KCK connections" and replaced by a trustee, on the grounds that he was elected by the DEM-CHP partnership as part of the "urban agreement."

Similarly, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan was detained as part of the same investigation, and a trustee was appointed to replace him. The interventions in Esenyurt and Şişli were criticized as a "blow to elected municipalities" and were seen as a reaction to the DEM-CHP urban consensus.

Source: News Center