Message from detained Kuşadası Mayor Günel: Veiled reference to Çerçioğlu

In Kuşadası, Mayor Ömer Günel and five others were detained by police on the morning of March 13 as part of an investigation into bribery and extortion charges. Following this development, citizens and party members gathered in front of the Kuşadası municipal building, setting up a "Justice and Solidarity Tent" to closely monitor the process.

In a post on his social media account, the detained Mayor Günel signaled that he remains in high spirits, stating, "I am calling out with all my strength; to Kuşadası, to Aydın, and to Turkey. The truth will prevail, the good will win, and the bad will lose. A little time, a little patience..."

CHP Kuşadası District Chair Mehmet Gürbilek, in a statement made at the tent set up in front of the municipal building, said, "First of all, I spoke with our mayor's lawyer this morning. Our mayor is in good spirits and his motivation is high. He is awaiting the process with his head held high and his conscience clear. We are also awaiting the process alongside him. We believe that our mayor will be released during this detention period. Meanwhile, he just released a message. He sends his love and respect to all of you, our fellow citizens of Kuşadası. In the meantime, I invite all our fellow citizens to stand up for their will and to stand up for the votes they have cast. As you can all see, a democracy solidarity tent has been formed at İsmail Cem Square, open every day from 10:00 to 23:00. We look forward to the support of all our fellow citizens," he said.

Didim Mayor Hatice Gençay criticized the detention, stating, "We are all following the same process together. Our mayor, who could have gone in when summoned, just like all our mayors would have, was detained in an unjust and unlawful manner. We are all very saddened that our mayor was detained in this way, with a dawn raid. Of course, none of us are afraid of being put on trial. If our crimes are proven, we will go and give our answer like lions. We can express ourselves in response to our alleged crimes. But the fact that it was done this way reminds us of one thing: a political move is being made. We are following this process together with all the people of Kuşadası, Aydın, and Didim, directed at all Republican People's Party (CHP) mayors," she said.

Furthermore, Gençay made statements regarding Aydın Metropolitan Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu. Gençay included the following remarks in her speech:

"We are not blocking services to Aydın, friends. We do not want the people of Aydın to be burdened with debt. We will fulfill all our duties in this regard. We also made decisions in previous terms before changing parties. We are asking for an account of the borrowing authorizations obtained before changing parties. We are saying, tell us what you did with this for the people of Aydın, provide information about this so that we can approve and support what will be done and where it will be done. Of course, they are trying to spread the perception that we are blocking services to the people of Aydın and are explaining it to the citizens in this way. Of course, we do not accept this.

Because what we are doing here is asking: where were all the loans taken to date used for services? The money also appears in the accounts and records. We are not running a business. We are a municipality and we have to produce services. Where will they spend the existing money? Did the person who took this loan take it before? We don't know that either. Where did they provide services with these? We are asking. Asking a question does not mean arguing. We are also mayors. Our council members ask us about all issues as well. Before asking, we explain where and for which services we will use the funds. We are asking these questions because we are there on behalf of the public. It is our most natural right to receive answers to these."