Özgür Çelik Condemns Pre-Election Arrests in Üsküdar: ‘This Is the Method of the Losers’

Özgür Çelik, the YENİ Party’s Istanbul provincial chairman, has condemned the detention of 13 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality officials and three Üsküdar municipal council members ahead of a new election for deputy mayor.

In a statement on social media, Çelik said authorities first detained Üsküdar council members after the earlier vote was annulled. He claimed the sequence was deliberate: cancel the election, detain council members and hold a new vote. Two other council members, he said, had been summoned to give statements.

Çelik also referred to Sinem Dedetaş, whom he described as the pride of Üsküdar residents, saying she had been “unjustly and unlawfully” arrested. He said his side had won the deputy-mayor election despite what he called a plot, then argued that the losing side had gone to court to have the result canceled.

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This is the method of the losers

“This is the method of the losers,” Çelik said. He accused those unable to win elections of relying on threats, pressure, transfers and politically motivated judicial operations instead of persuading voters at the ballot box.

Çelik said his party believed in the innocence of its council members, officials and political colleagues. He expressed confidence in the public’s commitment to fairness, popular will and democracy, adding: “One way or another, a NEW era will begin in Turkey.”

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One way or another, a NEW era will begin in Turkey