AKP regains Gaziosmanpaşa Municipality it lost in elections: Look who the new mayor turned out to be!

Following the arrest of CHP Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe, the administration changed hands during an election held in the municipal council. After three rounds of voting in the council, AKP candidate Eray Karadeniz was elected as the Acting Mayor of Gaziosmanpaşa.

37 council members cast their votes in the election, which concluded in the morning hours. The council consists of 18 AKP members, 17 CHP members, and 3 MHP members. In the voting, Karadeniz was elected acting mayor with 21 votes, while the CHP candidate, Deputy Mayor Murat Topaloğlu, remained at 16 votes. Thus, the municipality, which the CHP won on March 31, has passed to AKP administration thanks to their council majority.

CHP MEMBERS REACT TO "USURPATION OF NATIONAL WILL"

CHP Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe, in a statement following the development, stated that the will of the people was ignored by a decision made behind closed doors and used the following expressions:

“Our municipality has changed hands despite the will of the people, through a decision made behind closed doors. This is not only an intervention against me personally, but also a great disrespect to democracy and the choices of you, my neighbors in Gaziosmanpaşa.”

CHP İstanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik also criticized the process with harsh words in a statement emphasizing the "national will."

Moments showing Eray Karadeniz, who took over the municipal administration after the election, looking quite cheerful were captured by cameras. The smile on Karadeniz's face and his relaxed demeanor caused a wide stir on social media.

HIS POSTS PRAISING FETÖ HAVE COME TO THE FORE

The social media posts made by the new acting mayor, Eray Karadeniz, in past years have also been brought back to the agenda. Screenshots of some posts containing laudatory expressions, particularly from the periods when FETÖ was described as a "service movement," spread rapidly on social media.

Here are those posts made by Karadeniz:

It has also emerged that Eray Karadeniz, who was elected as the new acting mayor of Gaziosmanpaşa, previously served as a lawyer in the case where Dilan Polat and Engin Polat were tried.