Council members who resigned from DEM Party backtrack

Seven DEM Party members serving on the municipal council in the Hilvan district of Şanlıurfa had announced their surprise departure from the party yesterday.

Council members Abdullah Akbalık, Muzaffer Akçan, Adil Turgut, Murat Ray Encümen, Mehmet Garip Cızzak, İbrahim Halil Toprak, and Mehmet Ali Demir had announced in a collective statement that they were resigning from their party and would serve as independents.

However, one day later, the council members reversed this decision. The members, who had cited issues with Hilvan Mayor Serhan Paydaş as the reason for their resignation, issued a new statement today. The members published an apology message to the public and their voters, announcing that they were withdrawing their resignation decisions.

The following statements were included in the published joint declaration:

“Regarding our announcement to the press and the public on 02.03.2026 as Hilvan Council Members that we were resigning from our DEM Party Hilvan Party Council membership; we apologize to our party, primarily to the people of Hilvan, for the statement we made to the public before exhausting our internal issues.

We would like to state that we wish for our faulty and incomplete practice to be addressed within the framework of our party law, and that we will respect any decision our party makes regarding our people within this framework, and that we have submitted our will to party justice.

We would like to share that we are deeply saddened by the accusatory expressions in the statement that exceeded their purpose. We promise our people and our party that we will resolve the experienced problems and difficulties within our own party mechanisms.”