An Istanbul court has suspended the execution of a municipal council vote that elected Sibel Tan Çetinkaya as acting mayor of the Üsküdar district, citing concerns over the validity of ballots and the conduct of the Aug. 5 election.
The court ruled that the voting process had not been conducted in a healthy and secure manner, noting tensions between the candidates.
Five ballots were declared invalid in the round in which Çetinkaya was elected. The ruling, issued Aug. 25, can be appealed within seven days.
Çetinkaya, the candidate of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) was elected after Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was jailed. The election had sparked a dispute between the CHP and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), with both sides accusing the other of interfering with council members’ free will.
The AKP’s Üsküdar organization filed two criminal complaints over the election.
In the first two rounds, Çetinkaya received more votes than AKP’s Dündar Ziya Gültekin but failed to secure the required two-thirds majority, prompting a third round.
Çetinkaya received 21 votes in the third round, compared with 18 for Gültekin, while five ballots were declared invalid over alleged issues including lettering and spelling errors.
The voting was then suspended after a petition submitted by the CHP group, drawing objections from AKP members.
A fourth round, requiring a simple majority, was held after the break. Çetinkaya received 22 votes and Gültekin 18, after which the former was declared acting mayor.
The AKP group’s deputy head, Vefa Yunus Taylan, said his party’s request not to suspend the voting after the third round had been rejected “without justification” and challenged the outcome.
Taylan also accused New Party’s Istanbul chair Özgür Çelik of “occupying the CHP room and rendering the will of council members invalid.”
CHP rejected the allegations, saying, “Everyone cast their vote at the ballot box of their own free will.”
The election was broadcast live by Üsküdar Municipality, and tensions periodically rose among council members.
Former Üsküdar Mayor Hilmi Türkmen also criticized the election in a post on X, describing the proceedings as a “planned, disgraceful, miserable theater” rather than a genuine vote.
He said the decision lacked a legal basis and amounted to “serious interference in the will of the council.”
After the election, Çetinkaya addressed Dedetaş, who was in detention, saying: “The trust of Üsküdar, which freely elected you, is here. We will continue to fight without stopping until we get you out of that dungeon.”
