Union of Turkish Bar Associations calls on the Ministry of Interior regarding trustee appointments!

The Ministry of Interior removed DEM Party-affiliated Mardin Metropolitan Mayor Ahmet Türk, Batman Mayor Gülistan Sönük, and Halfeti Mayor Mehmet Karayılan from office today.

Mardin Governor Tuncay Akkoyun was appointed as trustee to the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, Batman Governor Ekrem Canalp to the Batman Municipality, and Halfeti District Governor Hakan Başoğlu to the Halfeti Municipality. Additionally, Ahmet Özer, who was elected as the Mayor of Esenyurt from the Republican People's Party (CHP), was detained at his home on the morning of Wednesday, October 30. The Ministry of Interior announced that Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, who was arrested on October 31 on charges of "being a member of the PKK/KCK armed terrorist organization," had been suspended from office. The Ministry announced that Istanbul Deputy Governor Can Aksoy had been appointed as the Acting Mayor of Esenyurt in place of Özer.

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations, reacting to the Ministry of Interior's trustee appointments, issued a written statement.

In its statement, the TBB called on the Ministry of Interior, saying, "It must immediately abandon the decision taken and reinstate the mayors to their duties; the regulation added to the Municipal Law in 2016 must be amended, and not a single practice that would mean interference with the right to vote and be elected should be carried out."

The TBB's statement is as follows:

“The last sentence of the fourth paragraph of Article 127 of the Constitution, which is presented as the basis for the aforementioned trustee practice, regulates temporary suspension from duty by the decision of the Minister of Interior 'due to a crime related to the duty.' Indeed, a parallel regulation is also included in Article 47 of the Municipal Law No. 5393.

However, there is no constitutional basis for the regulation in the second paragraph of Article 45—which was first added to the Municipal Law with Decree-Law No. 674 during the state of emergency declared after the coup attempt, and subsequently enacted with Law No. 6758—stipulating that the Ministry of Interior may appoint a mayor in cases of 'suspension from duty due to crimes of terrorism or aiding and abetting terrorist organizations.'

The Constitutional Court states that taking the central administration's tutelage authority beyond the situations limited by the fifth paragraph of Article 127 means denying the principles of local government and decentralization, and that appointments made by politically identified bodies of the central administration in place of suspended individuals are contrary to the Constitution. Since the authority to appoint has been given to politically identified bodies of the central administration, and since there is always the possibility of initiating investigations and prosecutions solely to achieve this goal and suspending individuals from duty for these reasons, a 'temporary' appointment turns into a 'permanent' appointment, creating an unlawful intervention (AYM, E.1987/22, K.1988/19, 13/06/1988).

Indeed, although the Law stipulates only the condition of having the qualifications to be elected as mayor for the person to be appointed in place of the removed mayor, the appointment of Governors and District Governors instead of any Municipal Council member in the recent trustee appointments is a clear indication that the discretionary power is being used without regard for the will of the voters.

The Ministry of Interior must immediately abandon the decision taken and reinstate the mayors to their duties; the regulation added to the Municipal Law in 2016 must be amended, and not a single practice that would mean interference with the right to vote and be elected should be carried out."

News Source: 12punto