resolution motion, 10 February 2025
On Recent dismissals and arrests of mayors in Türkiye
Motion B-10-2025-0100 · (2025/2546(RSP))
on behalf of The Left Group · Rapporteur: Isabel Serra Sánchez, Özlem Demirel
AI:In short
The resolution condemns the removal and arrest of elected mayors in Türkiye, calling it a violation of democratic rights and part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. It urges Türkiye to stop appointing trustees, release detained politicians and activists, ensure judicial independence, revise laws to meet international standards, and respect freedom of assembly. It also calls on the Council to make Türkiye's rule of law and fundamental rights obligations central to EU-Türkiye relations.
Key points
- Deplores the serious backsliding on fundamental freedoms, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Türkiye.
- Calls on authorities to stop removing mayors and appointing trustees, as it violates the Kurds' right to vote and be elected, and urges the release and reinstatement of democratically elected mayors.
- Urges an end to repression of political opponents, human rights defenders, civil servants, journalists, writers, and academics; calls for immediate release of arbitrarily detained individuals and dropping charges.
- Strongly condemns the use of the justice system for political purposes and demands judicial independence and due process.
- Urges revision of anti-terror law, criminal code, assembly and demonstration law, and disinformation law to comply with international standards.
- Condemns repression of demonstrators and calls for respect of freedom of assembly and association.
- Calls on the Council to ensure Türkiye's full implementation of rule of law and fundamental rights obligations is integral to EU-Türkiye relations.
Who is affected
- Türkiye's authorities, including the Interior Ministry and judiciary, are called on to change practices.
- Detained politicians and activists in Türkiye, such as mayors and Kurdish leaders, would benefit from release.
- The Council of the EU is urged to link EU-Türkiye relations to rule of law compliance.
Figures and deadlines
Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Full text
Text 16 paragraphs
B100100/2025
Motion for a European Parliament resolution on Recent dismissals and arrests of mayors in Türkiye
(2025/2546(RSP))
The European Parliament,
having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,
whereas after the 2024 municipal elections the Interior Ministry has ordered the appointment of “trustees” in place of eight mayors and municipalities from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, DEM (Ahmet Türk, Gülistan Sönük, Mehmet Karayılan, Cevdet Konak, Ayvaz Hazır removed in November 2024; Sıddık Akış removed in June 2024; and Hoşyar Sarıyıldız and Sofya Alağaş removed in January 2025), and two Kurdish mayors elected from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP (Ahmet Özer, removed in October 2024 and Mustafa Sarıgül, removed in November); whereas two DEM mayors and one CHP mayor are currently in detention; whereas these actions have been widely criticized as politically motivated;
whereas Riza Akpolat, the mayor of Istanbul's Besiktas district and a member of the CHP, has been controversially detained on allegations of tender rigging; whereas Ekrem Imamoglu, Mayor of Istanbul, is facing multiple legal challenges and faces possible political disqualification if his conviction for allegedly insulting members of Türkiye's high electoral board, is upheld;
whereas these cases are part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent and undermine democratic processes; whereas the replacement of mayors with “trustees” has happened twice before, first in the period 2016-17 and then in 2019;
Deplores the serious backsliding on fundamental freedoms, the human rights situation in Türkiye and the continued erosion of democracy and the rule of law;
Calls on the authorities to cease the practice of removing mayors and appointing trustees which eliminate the Kurds' right to vote, to be elected and to representation, and is a violation of the right to free and fair elections and erode local democracy; urges the release and reinstatement of democratically elected mayors and officials;
Urges to put an end to the repression of political opponents, human rights defenders, civil servants, journalists, writers and academics; calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all people arbitrarily detained such as Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, Osman Kavala, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, Can Atalay, and Tayfun Kahraman, and that the charges against them be immediately dropped or cancelled;
Strongly condemns the use of the justice system for political purposes; requires to ensure the independence of the judiciary, and to guarantee the right to due process;
Urges the authorities to ensure that existing legislation – in particular the anti-terror Law, the Criminal Code, the law on assemblies and demonstrations and the law on disinformation– is revised to comply with international standards;
Condemns the repression faced by those demonstrating against these disqualifications and calls on the authorities to respect the right to freedom of assembly and association;
Requires to the Council to ensure that full implementation by Türkiye of its rule of law and fundamental rights obligations be an integral part of the EU-Türkiye relationship;
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the EU institutions, Member States, and the Türkiyes authorities.