Statement on Ahmet Özer from CHP Deputy Chairman Gökan Zeybek

Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer was detained in an operation carried out at his home in the morning hours. While it was stated that Özer was detained as part of an investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the identification of members and activities of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization, searches were also conducted at Özer's home and workplace. CHP Deputy Chairman Gökan Zeybek made statements on Halk TV regarding the detention of Ahmet Özer.

Reminding that Ahmet Özer was elected mayor by receiving the vote of one in every two people in Esenyurt, Zeybek said the following:

"When we met with Mayor Ahmet yesterday, Esenyurt held a very enthusiastic Republic Day event. Tens of thousands of people walked in Esenyurt with their torches, followed by a wonderful Republic Day celebration. As you know, Esenyurt is the district with the highest population in Turkey. Mr. Ahmet is a professor and doctor. He has served in various levels of the state and has held managerial positions in universities. He provided consultancy services to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for the last 5 years, and we nominated him as the Esenyurt Mayor candidate in the last elections. He was elected by receiving the vote of one in every two people."

Emphasizing that the government is uncomfortable with Ahmet Özer's Kurdish identity, Zeybek continued his speech as follows: 

"HIS NATIVE LANGUAGE IS KURDISH, PERHAPS THAT IS THE POINT THEY ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH"

"He is the child of a Kurdish family from Van; his native language is Kurdish, perhaps that is the point they are uncomfortable with. We knew from the beginning that they were uncomfortable with such a person managing Turkey's largest district, but ultimately, this is not the way to summon a mayor who was elected by the people's vote and started his duty 6 months ago for a statement. You summon him, he comes and gives his statement, but now I am on the road in Okmeydanı, I am about to head to the Vatan Police Headquarters; we want to get more detailed information about the incident, but it appears that he was detained by Counter-Terrorism Branch teams in line with a court summons. We will try to learn the details. Turkey is going through a very historic process. In a period where there is such a policy change that they go as far as calling the terrorist organization leader Abdullah Öcalan to the Parliament and wanting this problem to be solved in Turkey through his repentance, in a way we did not expect or foresee, especially from political parties whose stance and perspective on security policies we know, it is impossible for us to accept this practice applied to a mayor. Everyone should know that we will never remain silent. Let them never attempt to use the method of appointing trustees to municipalities for any CHP mayor through court decisions, judicial games, fabricated documents, or fraudulent procedures. I want to express here that this is not the right path. This is an attack attempt against the will of our people who supported CHP mayors to manage the places where 65 percent of the Turkish people live in the last elections; it is absolutely impossible for us to accept this. Together with our fellow deputies and mayors, we are now heading to the Vatan Police Headquarters."