Dündar Ziya Gültekin, a municipal council member from Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), was elected acting mayor of Istanbul’s Üsküdar district Tuesday in a rerun vote following a court decision suspending the previous election.
Gültekin secured 23 of the 42 votes cast in the fourth round of voting at the Üsküdar Municipal Council, defeating Republican People’s Party (CHP) council member Sibel Tan Çetinkaya, who received 19 votes.
The council convened under the chairmanship of First Deputy Chair Ali Aral to elect the acting mayor.
The CHP/New Party group nominated Çetinkaya, while the People’s Alliance nominated Gültekin.
After neither candidate secured the required majority in the first three rounds, the election proceeded to a fourth round, in which the candidate receiving the highest number of votes would win.
In the secret ballot, Gültekin received 23 votes to Çetinkaya’s 19.
The election was repeated after Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court issued a stay of execution concerning the Municipal Council’s decision in the previous acting mayor election held Aug. 5.
The Istanbul Governor’s Office had said an appeal against the ruling was rejected by the Istanbul Regional Administrative Court and that the district council would reconvene to elect an acting mayor.
The council was initially scheduled to hold the election Saturday, Sept. 5, but the meeting was postponed after it failed to reach the required quorum.
The council reconvened Tuesday, resulting in Gültekin’s election in the fourth round.
Last week, four municipal council members in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district resigned from the main opposition CHP and joined the ruling AK Party.
The four defections leave the CHP with a two-seat advantage over the People’s Alliance in the council, raising the stakes ahead of the election.
Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was arrested on July 31 as part of an investigation involving allegations of establishing a criminal organization, bribery and extortion. She was subsequently suspended from office by the Interior Ministry.
On Aug. 5, the municipal council elected CHP council member Sibel Tan Çetinkaya as acting mayor.
The election was later challenged in court, and Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court suspended the implementation of the council decision.
Following the court decision, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced that the municipal council would reconvene on Sept. 5 to elect a new acting mayor under Article 45 of Türkiye’s Municipal Law.
