AKP deputy mayor visits tomb following Üsküdar election

Dündar Ziya Gültekin, the People's Alliance candidate who won the repeated deputy mayoral election at Üsküdar Municipality, visited the Aziz Mahmut Hüdayi Tomb following the election process.

Gültekin was accompanied on the visit by AKP Üsküdar District Chair Taha Sarıcaoğlu. In a post on his social media account, Sarıcaoğlu shared images of the visit with the caption, "Üsküdar, the city of Hüdayi."

The shared footage shows Gültekin praying at the tomb and subsequently distributing simit in front of the mosque alongside Sarıcaoğlu.

The deputy mayoral process at Üsküdar Municipality began following the arrest of Mayor Sinem Dedetaş. In the first election, CHP candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya was elected deputy mayor, but the election was repeated following an objection by the AKP.

It was stated that two CHP municipal council members were unable to vote in the repeated election because they had been detained and arrested. In the election held yesterday, Dündar Ziya Gültekin was elected deputy mayor in the fourth round with 23 votes to 19.

Following the election, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik raised certain allegations regarding Üsküdar Municipal Council member Ayhan Aydın, who resigned from the CHP and joined the AKP. Çelik claimed that Aydın had called him and stated that he had been threatened with arrest by a prosecutor.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an ex officio investigation into the allegations in Çelik's statement. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has summoned Ayhan Aydın, who was allegedly threatened, to provide a statement.