Turkey’s interior ministry has dismissed Beyoglu mayor Inan Guney, who was detained on August 16 and officially arrested on August 18, the ministry said on August 19.

Guney is a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The district parliament in Beyoglu will elect a new mayor on August 22, the Istanbul Governor’s office separately said. The CHP has a majority in the parliament and another CHP member will take over the post.

With Guney, the number of jailed CHP mayors rose to 18, including two mayors from Buyukcekmece. The mayor of Adiyaman has been reinstated.

Ten CHP municipalities, namely:

• Esenyurt (Istanbul district),
• Ovacik (Tunceli town),
• Sisli (Istanbul district),
• Gaziosmanpasa (Istanbul district),
• Aydin (metropolitan),
• Soke (Aydin town), 
• Yenipazar (Aydin town),
• Sultanhisar (Aydin town),
• Sehitkamil (Gaziantep town) and
• Altinova (Yalova town), has so far been seized by the government.

Three municipalities (Esenyurt, Ovacik, Sisli) were seized directly on terrorism charges while the regime holds the majority in the Gaziosmanpasa parliament. The remaining five mayors joined the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on their “free will”.

In 12 municipalities, the district parliament has elected a CHP member as the new mayor to replace the jailed mayor. The ten are:

• Istanbul (metropolitan),
• Besiktas (Istanbul district),
• Avcilar (Istanbul district),
• Beylikduzu (Istanbul district),
• Beykoz (Istanbul district),
• Buyukcekmece (Istanbul district),
• Sile (Istanbul district),
• Adana (metropolitan),
• Ceyhan (Adana district),
• Seyhan (Adana district),
• Antalya (metropolitan) and
• Manavgat (Antalya district)).

After the detention of the second mayor in Buyukcekmece, the district parliament elected another CHP member as mayor.

Additionally, ten municipalities held by DEM Party, the current Kurdish party, are at this point governed by the government trustees sent in to replace arrested mayors.

Since April, no additional Kurdish municipality has been seized. And, Kurds’ municipalities have not been returned.

Prior to February, when the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkey’s ruling regime announced a collaboration, municipalities were seized as part of an operation against the PKK. Since March, municipality seizures have been executed as part of the Imamoglu operation.

Moreover, two mayors from the Iyi Party, namely Yalvac (Isparta town) and Yesiltepe (Aksaray town), in addition to the independent mayor in Bozkurt (Kastamonu town) joined the AKP on their ‘free will’.