A mayoral certification crisis in Van province following the local elections sparked arguments among prominent figures within President Erdoğan’s AK Party. Presidential Advisor Mehmet Uçum defended the desertification process saying that it was a legal necessity, earning a harsh rebuttal by AKP MP Babuşçu.
Following last Sunday’s local elections, opposition parties scored historic wins against the ruling coalition, relegating President Erdoğan’s AKP to second-party status. While the main opposition party (CHP) secured the lion’s share of the votes, ethnically Kurdish-majority provinces also achieved significant victories, electing pro-Kurdish DEM Party mayors in 10 provinces, one of whom was Abdullah Zeydan of Van. Zeydan’s candidacy was invalidated when the Ministry of Justice filed an objection against it two days before the election. The objection was initially accepted, stripping the mayor-elect of his position, but was later overruled following mass civil unrest in the city. The practice of removing democratically elected mayors in Kurdish-majority provinces is not new, as numerous Kurdish mayors have been ousted from their positions in the last decade. These mayors were replaced by AKP appointees designated by the central government primarily on the grounds of their alleged ties to Kurdish separatist terrorist organizations, a practice long viewed as a pretext to usurp local power in the region, and one that has been met with widespread criticism.
President’s Chief Advisor Mehmet Uçum lashed out at opposition parties that threw their support behind Zeydan and AKP figures who criticized Zeydan’s disqualification which sparked an unprecedented clash inside the ruling party. Uçum scolded AKP members who defended Zeydan saying “The attitudes of those in this government who have poisoned their minds with neoliberalism and have surrendered to Westernization has been noted following this incident” –
invoking a conspiracy theory that argues Western powers seek to topple Turkey through Kurdish separatist factions. Uçum added: “The National State will admonish those who interpret these election results as conditions leading Turkey to surrender to the dominant powers of the West. The stance of the neoliberals within the government has also been noted.” Uçum also claimed that the protests that resulted from the crisis were a “part of a larger plan to undermine Turkey’s integrity.”
Uçum’s threatening tone and accusations of treason did not inspire compliance amongst the party however as AKP Central Decision and Executive Board member and former Istanbul Deputy, Aziz Babuşcu, offered a stern rebuttal to Uçum, saying: “You can’t wag your finger at the people from the people’s house! Let me put it in your terms, you’re overstepping your bounds!”
Babuşcu further explained: “The Metropolitan Municipality Mayor election in Van has been held, and the people of Van have expressed their will. Denying mayoral certification to the winning candidate is disrespectful to the national will, it is unacceptable.”
Fans further flamed by a deleted Tweet
After the high election council’s decision to grant Zeydan his mayorship, AKP Vice Chairman Hayati Yazıcı shared a post on his X (Twitter) account expressing support for the decision but quickly deleted it after. Yazıcı had written:
“The state of madness that emerged on April 1st (Van protests) regarding the mayoral election in our province of Van was concluded by the appropriate decision of the High Election Council,”
In light of Hayati Yazıcı’s deletion of his supportive tweet for Abdullah Zeydan, AKP Board Member Orhan Miroğlu posed a crucial query: “How can we expect Kurdish voices within the party to freely express themselves when founding members and MPs are singled out and silenced – especially given that the majority of the electoral setback occurred in Kurdish neighborhoods?”
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Stating that there exists an unshakeable bond between Turks and Kurds, Miroğlu continued, “Considering that the outcomes of this election mirror the 2015 elections where the party remained stagnant at 16% in Diyarbakır, or the absence of gains in Van, how can Kurdish members within the AK Party engage in open dialogues and confrontations with their party?”
Miroğlu attributed the electoral setback to various factors, including candidate choices, concerns of retirees, economic circumstances, deficiencies in advisory mechanisms, and intellectual stagnation. However, he stressed that these factors were not the root causes but rather the outcomes of deeper issues.
He contended that the AK Party’s true arena of reckoning lay in the political paradigms that had shaped both domestic and foreign policies over the past decade. Miroğlu emphasized that without engaging in discussions about and addressing certain policies that required change, transforming the defeat in the local elections into victory in 2028 would be unattainable.
Meanwhile, though Zeydan has been formally certified as Mayor of Van today, he may not be completely in the clear as legal proceedings against the mayor elect threaten to continue.
