Tension erupts at first council meeting chaired by Çiğli Mayor Onur Emrah Yıldız after joining AKP

The first municipal council meeting planned to be held under the chairmanship of Çiğli Mayor Onur Emrah Yıldız, who resigned from the CHP in İzmir to join the AKP, began with tension.

At the Çiğli Municipal Council meeting held following the party change, the deployment of police teams in and around the hall drew reactions from the opposition benches. Council members criticized the scope of the security measures and protested Yıldız with slogans.

As tensions rose, it was reported that YENİ Party İzmir Provincial Board Member Umut Barış Ballıkaya threw a water bottle at Mayor Onur Emrah Yıldız, who was at the podium. The council session was adjourned due to the scuffle.

Reacting to the security measures at the meeting, YENİ Party council member Bülent Bingöl argued that the presence of plainclothes police officers in the hall was against the law.

I have been coming and going to these councils for 27 years. For the first time, according to our police chief, the Mayor requested security, support from the police. Article 20 of the Municipal Law No. 5393 is clear; municipal councils are open to the public. This security practice is contrary to the law and its spirit.

News Source: 12punto