CHP retains Üsküdar Municipality after contested vote

ISTANBUL

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained control of Istanbul’s Üsküdar Municipality on Aug. 5, after a contentious council vote held after Sinem Dedetaş was arrested and suspended from office last week.

CHP candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya was elected acting mayor in the fourth round of voting, securing 22 votes from the 44-member council. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Dündar Ziya Gültekin received 18 votes, while four ballots were declared invalid.

The vote followed three inconclusive rounds. In the first round, Çetinkaya received 26 votes and Gültekin 16, with one blank and one invalid ballot. The second round produced the same result, but a required absolute majority was not reached.

In the third round, Çetinkaya received 21 votes and Gültekin 18, while five ballots were deemed invalid. Both party groups submitted objections over the validity of the votes.

Dedetaş, a CHP mayor who was elected in the 2024 elections, was detained on July 29 during simultaneous police raids across Istanbul. Her deputy Ceyhun Ünlü was also held.

A prosecutor’s office in Istanbul said the investigation was launched based on complaints, statements from alleged victims and testimonies from some suspects who benefited from effective remorse provisions.

A court later ordered Dedetaş’s arrest, leading to her suspension from the Üsküdar mayor’s office.

HH New Party’s Manisa chair detained
The investigation is the latest judicial operation targeting municipalities controlled by the CHP. Dedetaş was among mayors who had backed the formation of the New Party, established by former CHP head Özgür Özel and 90 of his allies after a court ruling removed him from the leadership.

Separately, the New Party’s provincial chair in the western province of Manisa, İlksen Özalper, was detained as part of a corruption investigation led by Ankara prosecutors.

The party condemned the detention as “the continuation of an organized political revenge project.”

Authorities said the probe was based on statements by suspended Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım under effective remorse provisions, reports from the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) and phone traffic records.