16.09.2025 23:20
In the council meeting held under the administration of Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu, the proposals of the CHP members were rejected, and their requests to speak were not addressed. CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ömer Günel stated, "Not allowing the CHP Group Deputy Chairman to speak is not just about silencing Ömer Günel or the group spokesperson Anıl Yetişkin, or the 47 council members; it means silencing 344,003 votes."
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After Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu resigned from the Republican People's Party and joined the AK Party, tensions and scuffles occurred during the first council meeting she did not attend, leading to the session being postponed. The Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Council reconvened today under the chairmanship of Çerçioğlu. Before the council meeting, CHP metropolitan council members gathered at the CHP Aydın Provincial Presidency and walked to the service building where the council meeting would take place.
DISCUSSION BETWEEN PRIVATE SECURITY AND COUNCIL MEMBERS
As the CHP council members approached the municipal service building, they were met by the police, private security, and law enforcement at the street closed off by barriers in front of the municipality. Here, the CHP council members were checked against a list of names, and the press members accompanying them were also allowed into the building after their press cards were checked. During this time, discussions occurred between the private security and the council members. Similar practices continued at the entrance of the main municipal building and on the floor where the council chamber is located. It was observed that security measures were taken by law enforcement on all floors of the municipality. Tensions arose during the entrance of the CHP council members into the chamber.
The meeting in the council chamber, where security teams had taken extensive precautions, began under the management of Aydın Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu. A group that had entered the chamber earlier was seen chanting slogans in favor of Çerçioğlu. During the session, Çerçioğlu did not address the proposals of the CHP Group and rejected requests to speak. Çerçioğlu considered the proposals rejected by the majority votes of the CHP Group as accepted and referred them to the commissions. After a break in the session, Çerçioğlu positively responded to the requests to speak from Nuri Güler, the Mayor of Köşk and AK Party Spokesperson for the Metropolitan Municipality Council, and Polat Mersin, an independent council member and Deputy Mayor who also resigned from the CHP.
SAATCI: WE WILL NOT DEPART FROM RIGHTS, LAW, AND JUSTICE
After Çerçioğlu closed the session, the CHP Council Group made a press statement. In front of the provincial presidency building, CHP Aydın Provincial Chairman Hikmet Saatçı stated that they held a tripartite meeting with Aydın Governor Yakup Canpolat and AK Party Provincial Chairman Mehmet Erdem before the council meeting. Saatçı said, "We fulfilled everything the Aydın Governor said as the CHP Aydın Provincial Presidency. We did not compromise on our dignity and respect. We kept our promises. I call out to the Aydın Governor from here; how can I trust you if you gather us again? I have no complaints about the security measures. They were taken very well. But I sent a message to the AKP Provincial Chairman before the meeting. I asked, 'Did we discuss such a thing at the governor's office this morning?' They couldn't even respond. They can't. This is the AKP's mindset. They are liars. As the Republican People's Party, we keep our promises. We keep the promises we make to the people. We keep the promises we make to the state's governor. But they tell us, 'Don't keep them.' We will not back down from our word. We will continue on our path as we know it. We will not depart from the truth. We will not depart from rights, law, and justice. This is the principle of the Republican People's Party. The situation we experienced today will not happen when we are in power in the elections to be held in three years," he said.
GÜNEL: A WILL THAT IGNORED THE CHP GROUP WAS OBSERVED
Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Council CHP Group Deputy Chairman and Kuşadası Mayor Ömer Günel stated, "Today, we went to the Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Council with 47 of our friends, in a complete manner, analyzing the services worthy of Aydın correctly, making the right decisions, and with the will to serve Aydın by working together. Two hours before the meeting, we held our group meeting again. All 47 council members and our mayors participated fully. We went to vote for all the proposals on the council agenda to be evaluated in the commissions. However, when the council was postponed on September 12 due to alleged chaos, they closed the council without voting on the six proposals we submitted. Today, the meeting was opened. A roll call was made. As the group deputy chairman, I requested to speak. I was not given the floor. I told the council president, 'We have proposals; you need to add our proposals to the agenda by voting on them.' I could not make him listen. I said, 'Your additional agenda needs to be voted on to be added to the agenda.' He said, 'No need.' He did not vote. Throughout the council, for about 30 items, I requested to speak on almost every item related to the agenda, but I was not given the floor. According to the council's customs and working regulations, the council president is obliged to give the floor to the representative of a party, who is the group deputy chairman. In fact, he cannot interrupt. He must give the floor. But a will that persistently ignored us, ignored the CHP group, was observed.
Then he started reading the agenda items. We expressed our will that it should not continue in an unjust and unlawful manner. He did not accept it. He said, 'I do not need your vote.' He said, 'I do not need the votes of the majority of the council members.' I said, 'I am sending this to the commissions even if you vote against it.' Despite the fact that many of us are lawyers, Özlem Çerçioğlu wrote a new law. A new law that no one knows, that does not comply with any custom, that does not comply with any legislation. Nevertheless, we maintained our calm. Occasionally, slogans were chanted again. However, people who would cause such disturbances were not supposed to be allowed into the council chamber. The provincial chairmen held a meeting under the chairmanship of our governor. My provincial chairman complied with this decision, and not a single person was shown there other than the district chairmen. There was not the slightest disturbance or even the slightest slogan shouted from our side in the council chamber. Not even a sign of anger was shown. But frequently, the people that Özlem Çerçioğlu had placed there, who were allegedly protesting the council, were brought in. It was made unworkable. She had them applaud her. When we expressed this to the security forces, we understood their helpless expressions. Because they probably had no idea how those people got in there. As a result, we entered calmly and left calmly," he said.
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