Members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) have gathered outside İstanbul’s police headquarters in response to the detention of Ahmet Özer, mayor of the Esenyurt district, earlier today.
Özer was taken into custody during a raid on his home on charge of “membership in a terrorist organization.”
A confidentiality order has been issued on the investigation, and Özer is under a 24-hour restriction from meeting with his attorney.
CHP İstanbul deputies Özgür Karabat and Ali Gökçek, and senior party officials and local representatives were among the crowd outside the police headquarters. Police initially asked them to disperse but party members remained on-site to show support.
Making a public statement here, CHP Deputy Chair Gökhan Zeybek linked Özer’s detention to recent government actions against opposition figures, saying, “Ahmet Özer is an academic and sociologist of Kurdish background. It seems those who opposed appointing trustees in Van after the 2019 elections are now uncomfortable with a Van-born mayor serving the large district of Esenyurt.”
Özgür Karabat, another CHP deputy, questioned the need for a detailed public statement by the prosecutor’s office when confidentiality has been imposed on the case.
“We have no legally sound explanation here,” Karabat said. “The prosecutor mentions surveillance spanning ten years, yet Özer has held government roles and recently obtained a clearance certificate [to run in the elections]. Now, we’re seeing these baseless accusations surface without due process.”
Karabat further police entered the Esenyurt municipal building by force despite being offered coordination during a simultaneous raid.
‘This arrest is unconstitutional’
İstanbul Bar Association Chair Prof. İbrahim Kaboğlu also arrived at the police headquarters to request information about the charges against Özer. After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain details, Kaboğlu condemned the detention as a breach of constitutional rights.
“This detention is unconstitutional,” Kaboğlu stated, adding that if Özer were under investigation, he should have been summoned for questioning rather than detained in an early morning raid.
Kaboğlu also criticized the prosecutor's office for issuing a statement despite the imposed confidentiality.
Reaction from pro-Kurdish politicians
Tülay Hatimoğulları, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, which had endorsed Özer in Esenyurt for the 2024 local elections, criticized the detention on social media.
“The will of the people is being targeted with Özer’s detention. Such actions undermine democracy and the rule of law,” she wrote, demanding Özer’s immediate release.
Orhan Miroğlu, a prominent Kurdish politician and an executive member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), emphasized the timing of the detention amid ongoing discussions of a potential new peace process regarding the Kurdish issue.
“While awaiting clearer statements from the president and others on [MHP leader] Devlet Bahçeli’s peace initiative, the timing of this detention raises questions,” he wrote on social media. (RT/VK)
