New Ankara mayor demands resignation of top local bureaucrats

Murat Yılmaz - ANKARA

New Ankara Mayor Mustafa Tuna has requested the resignation of all bureaucrats and chairs related to the municipality in his first meeting since the resignation of Melih Gökçek.

Tuna reportedly demanded the resignation of top bureaucrats in the General Directorate of Electric Gas and Bus (EGO) and the Ankara Municipality’s Water and Sewerage Administration (ASKİ), along with all deputy secretary generals, directorate heads and top executives.

Ankara Municipality Secretary General Asım Balcı has also requested to resign.

Tuna, previously mayor of Ankara’s Sincan district, replaced Gökçek, who had been mayor of the Turkish capital for 23 years, after being elected by the municipal assembly on Nov. 6.

Tuna was elected as a mayor of Sincan in the local elections of 2009 and 2014.

He had been a deputy from the AKP between 2002 and 2007, serving as a Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) member of Turkey.

Gökçek’s resignation marked the end of a long saga that saw a number of resignations from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ahead of the local elections in 2019.