Van Mayor Zeydan evaluates AKP's move and the ongoing process

Despite winning the election, Van's elected mayor Abdullah Zeydan, who was not issued his certificate of election, explained in a live broadcast how his right to be elected was taken away. Zeydan stated that the public is very disturbed.

The Van Provincial Election Board, within the scope of an investigation conducted upon the request of AKP's Van candidate Abdullahat Arvas, ruled that Zeydan did not have the qualifications to be elected. It decided that the certificate of election should be given to the second-place candidate, Arvas.

"MY RIGHTS WERE RESTORED BY THE COURT"

While reactions to the decision poured in, Zeydan, who was subjected to this injustice, was a guest on TELE1's 'Söz Bizde' live broadcast. Stating that his banned rights were restored by a court decision a year ago after his final conviction, Zeydan said that they applied to the court again before his candidacy, and that a decision was issued stating that the rights were restored and no new decision was necessary.

"Our people are very disturbed. They showed how disturbed they are by this practice by giving our party 14 districts. They cannot stomach their own will being usurped by the slaughter of law," said Zeydan, whose statements are as follows:

"A statement I made previously, referring to ISIS, is being manipulated and used. A long speech I made referring to ISIS and its collaborators was cherry-picked. I received a 3-year sentence because of this speech. The ECHR decided that the entire speech was aimed at peace. I should have been acquitted. After the sentence I received from that file, I was arrested in 2016 and spent 5 years and 2 months in prison.

"THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE NOW SAYS 'I WAS NOT INFORMED'"

After I was released from prison in 2022, my decision became final. When I was released, my lawyer Mahsuni Karaman applied for the restoration of my banned (prohibited) rights. The Prosecutor's Office gave a contrary opinion. However, despite this, the court president granted the restoration of my banned rights. Of course, this alone is not enough to be elected. This decision also needs to be finalized. The Prosecutor's Office did not even object during this 15-day objection period, and my banned rights were restored. 

We also wrote to the Ministry of Justice; the finalization annotation is still in my archive record. After the decision, we applied to the court again; we said, 'add the phrase of right to vote and be elected there as well.' The prosecutor said, 'we have restored all your rights, there is no need for a new decision.' The court confirmed the previous decision and decided that there was no need for a new decision. The current claim of the Prosecutor's Office is that 'the first court decision was not given to us.' 

The Prosecutor's Office says, 'I don't know about it now.' I received my restored rights 1 year ago and applied for candidacy to the Provincial Election Board. The Board said, 'There is no problem.' My name was published on the final list. One day before the election, at 16:55, the Prosecutor's Office requested the court to abolish a finalized decision with the excuse that 'I was not notified.' The court, without the objection going to the Court of Cassation, abolished the additional decision that restored my banned rights on Friday at 16:55. It immediately wrote to the General Directorate of Criminal Records, and the decision was abolished. We are facing such an injustice.

"AN AMBUSH ON THE NATIONAL WILL"

On election night, the AKP also applied to the Van Provincial Election Board, saying, 'Give us the certificate of election.' Despite the president's annotation, the board gave the certificate to the AKP candidate with the votes of two members. Of course, we will appeal this. There is one very clear thing; it is an ambush on the people, on the national will. The issue is not Abdullah Zeydan. We are facing a judicial coup.

"WHAT AM I GOING TO TRUST?"

It is said that the request to the prosecutor came from the General Directorate of Criminal Records. Why didn't the directorate make this request when I was applying for candidacy? It is clearly a conspiracy. An ambush was set for the will of the people. There may be deficiencies in judicial documents, but there is a method for this. The Prosecutor's Office says, 'I was not notified.' Well, what is my fault here? What am I going to trust? I applied for candidacy after a decision and right given to me by a court of the Republic of Turkey. And that's not even the case, they knew about it. They should not have accepted my candidacy and should have appealed the decision! The decision was reflected in my criminal record. We will have our documents in our appeal petition.

"OUR PEOPLE ARE VERY DISTURBED"

Our people are very disturbed. They showed how disturbed they are by this practice by giving our party 14 districts. They cannot stomach their own will being usurped by the slaughter of law.

Today we wanted to hold a democratic march... They say, 'They were not disturbed when trustees were appointed,' let the law enforcement forces not intervene, let's see if the people of Van are disturbed or not. We shall see. If the people are not disturbed, let the AKP candidate come and sit in that seat despite this lack of conscience.

Our people do not accept this attack on their democratic rights. They want to show their reaction without resorting to violence. The AKP does not want it to be seen how disturbed the people are. This is a trial; the issue is not Abdullah Zeydan. This will not be limited to this place. Ekrem İmamoğlu has a file in the appellate court. Everyone should stand against this. If we protect justice and democracy, the AKP will take a step back from this."

News Source: 12punto