YENİ Party rallies outside Üsküdar municipality before repeat deputy mayoral vote

YENİ Party supporters gathered outside Üsküdar Municipality on the eve of a repeat deputy mayoral election, turning the meeting into a show of support for detained and arrested officials. YENİ Party Istanbul chairman Özgür Çelik described the situation as a “timed, dirty operation.”

The renewed vote follows a court decision annulling the Aug. 5 election, in which Sibel Tan Çetinkaya won by four votes. The gathering also came after new detentions. Mithat Özdemir, Üsküdar’s deputy mayor and a municipal council member who had been released after two days in custody, attended the event. Supporters applauded council members Amine Cansu Çelik and Ekrem Batı, who remain in custody.

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Everyone does what suits them.

Council members who will vote in the next day’s election appeared on stage and greeted residents. The gathering included YENİ Party officials and lawmakers, CHP’s Üsküdar district chairman, opposition representatives and other party members.

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A timed, dirty operation is being carried out against us.

Çetinkaya read a message sent from prison by Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş, who is being held at Çorlu Karatepe Prison. Dedetaş thanked residents in Üsküdar and elsewhere in Turkey for their solidarity, saying their trust and support had become the main source of strength for her and her detained colleagues.

In the message, Dedetaş accused political calculations of being placed above the public will. She said she and municipal employees had worked for Üsküdar without considering political differences or personal interests, and argued that public interest should take precedence over all others. “Positions are temporary, but the place you hold in people’s hearts endures,” she wrote.

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Positions are temporary, but the place you hold in people’s hearts endures.