Breaking News: Trustee appointed to Van Metropolitan Municipality!

Following the 3-year and 9-month prison sentence handed down to Van Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Abdullah Zeydan, a trustee has been appointed to the municipality.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, it was stated that Abdullah Zeydan was removed from office due to his 3-year and 9-month prison sentence for the crime of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization." Governor Ozan Balcı has been appointed in place of Zeydan.

The statement from the Ministry included the following:

"Due to the 3-year and 9-month prison sentence received by Van Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Abdullah Zeydan for the crime of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization" at the hearing held on 11.02.2025 within the scope of the file numbered 2023/77 of the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court;

Abdullah Zeydan has been removed from office as a temporary measure by the Ministry of Interior in accordance with Article 127 of the Constitution and Article 47 of the Municipal Law No. 5393.

In accordance with Articles 45 and 46 of the Municipal Law No. 5393, Van Governor Ozan Balcı has been appointed as the Acting Mayor."

Press Release Regarding the Removal of the Van Metropolitan Municipality Mayor by the Ministry of Interior and the Appointment of the Van Governor as Acting Mayor: pic.twitter.com/rFfnwDguS2

— T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_icisleri) February 15, 2025

3 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS IN PRISON

Van Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan had been sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison in a retrial following the Supreme Court of Appeals' reversal of a 5-year prison sentence previously handed down by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court for the crime of "aiding an organization without being a member of an armed terrorist organization."

POLICE INTERVENTION

Police arrived at the municipal building around 04:00 in the morning and intervened against those gathered inside and in front of the building.

ZEYDAN REFUSED TO SIGN THE NOTIFICATION

Following the intervention, the "removal from office" decision issued for Abdullah Zeydan was served by police in front of the municipality. Zeydan refused to sign the notification. Reacting to the decision, Zeydan said, "You shameless people, how will you face these people! We are elected mayors. No one can change this fact. I do not accept the notification. This is a coup. It is a coup against the people. I do not accept it. You are stealing the rights of 1 million 200 thousand people with a single notification. You are crushing the will of the people. What should these people do? The ECHR ruled that we were arrested on political grounds. You are violating the Constitution," he reacted.

In a post on his social media account, Zeydan wrote, "Shameless thieves have usurped the will of the people of Van. The coup plotters will lose, and the people will win."

Shameless thieves have usurped the will of the people of Van. The coup plotters will lose, and the people will win.

— Abdullah Zeydan (@AbdullahZeydan) February 15, 2025

Zeydan had received 55.48 percent of the votes in Van in the local elections on March 31, 2024.

FIRST STATEMENT FROM DEM PARTY: THIS IS A COUP!

Following the trustee decision, the following statements were made in a post on the DEM Party's social media account:

"This is a coup!

The midnight trustee coup carried out against our Van Metropolitan Municipality is a blow struck against the will of the people.

We condemn the raiding of our municipal building, the attacks on the public with tear gas and plastic bullets, and the beating and detention of children and the elderly!

We will not bow down to this lawlessness. We will stand against the trustee mentality that tries to usurp the will of the people of Van!

Municipalities belong to the people, not to coup plotters!"

This is a coup!

The midnight trustee coup carried out against our Van Metropolitan Municipality is a blow struck against the will of the people.

We condemn the raiding of our municipal building, the attacks on the public with tear gas and plastic bullets, and the beating and detention of children and the elderly!… pic.twitter.com/q0ytOQ7HUz

— DEM Parti (@DEMGenelMerkezi) February 15, 2025

News Source: 12punto