01.09.2025 15:44
The allegations regarding CHP's Kale Mayor Erkan Hayla, who assaulted a municipal officer with a stick for refusing to lay paving stones in Denizli due to health issues, continue to emerge. Mayor Hayla, who was suspended from duty during his first term due to a murder investigation against him, also had footage released last year showing him choking a staff member.
The images showing CHP's Kale Mayor Erkan Hayla confronting municipal police officers H.S.K. (34) and C.E.Ç. (42), who did not want to lay paving stones by portraying his health issues realistically, have drawn significant public backlash. It was claimed that Mayor Hayla subjected the municipal police officers to heavy labor such as rubble, construction, garbage, and hoeing.
HIS DEFENSE SHOCKED Denying the allegations, Mayor Hayla stated, "I assigned those friends to ensure security there. Violence is not a solution, but I was saddened when I did not see the municipal police when I arrived at the work site," defending himself. Mayor Hayla, who forced the municipal police to do work that was not their duty, was condemned by political parties, unions, and civil society organizations.
A NEW VIOLENCE VIDEO HAS CIRCULATED After the video of Kale Mayor Erkan Hayla beating municipal police with a stick was featured in the media, footage of another violence incident that occurred in 2024 was circulated. In the footage from just 10 days after the March 31 elections, it was claimed that the personnel, who was choked while sitting in his chair after being verbally insulted by Mayor Hayla, was S.S., an employee of the Denizli Metropolitan Municipality's DESKİ General Directorate. S.S., who was allegedly pressured by Mayor Hayla because he was hired by the previous administration, tragically lost his life in a traffic accident shortly after being dismissed from his job.
THE FILE OF THE VIOLENT MAYOR TURNED OUT TO BE VAST With two separate violence videos against his personnel, Mayor Hayla has become the focus of public outrage. It has emerged that during his first term as mayor, he was involved in a murder investigation and was suspended from duty for that reason.
The incident that led to Mayor Hayla's removal from office occurred on June 29, 2015. A firefighter working in the Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Kale Fire Group, married and a father of one, Mehmet Ali Talay, was shot and killed in his car. The murder was claimed by N.Z., a municipal police officer working for Kale Municipality, who was alleged to be his girlfriend. In her initial statement, N.Z. claimed that firefighter Talay had forced her into a relationship for 8 months, saying, "I killed him when he threatened to tell my family about what I experienced." After being arrested, N.Z. changed her statement in prison, alleging that the murder was committed by Mayor Erkan Hayla, claiming he handed her the gun and asked her to take the blame. Consequently, Mayor Hayla was taken into custody. Although he was released to stand trial without detention and acquitted of the charges against him, he was suspended from his position by the Ministry of Interior in 2018 due to ongoing legal proceedings.