The city council has chosen a temporary mayor to take over from Ekrem Imamoguru, who was jailed last week.
The Istanbul city government has elected Nuri Aslan as interim mayor in place of Ekrem Imamoguru, who was imprisoned for corruption.
Local broadcaster NTV and Turkish news outlet Anadolu reported on Wednesday that Aslan, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) of Imamogul, has been chosen to run the city for the remainder of Imamogul’s term.
In the first round of the vote, Aslan won 173 votes, with Zeyner Abidin Okul, candidate for Receptacle Tayip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) with 123 votes. In the second round of the election, Aslan won 177 votes and Okul received 125 votes.
The third round of voting began as both candidates failed to score the two-thirds of the majority needed to win the vote. In that vote, if the candidate needed a simple majority to win, Aslan won 177 votes and Okul won 125 votes, securing Aslan’s election.
Speaking at the Istanbul Municipal building in Sarachan, CHP Chairman Ozgar Ozel said the interim mayoral election had hampered Erdogan’s push to appoint councillors in the municipality.
“From now on, the struggle will expand to everything in Torkie, but one foot will always be in Istanbul and one hand will always be in Sarachan,” Ozel said, adding that resistance from the public has hampered what the opposition has called it a “coup attempt.”
Aslan spoke alongside Ozel and reiterated that his new position was temporary.
“Our mayor, elected by Istanbul’s vote, will return as soon as possible. We will, together with our chairman, take care of what he entrusted to us, and return it to him,” he said.
This is because daily demonstrations were held across the country after Imamoguru was taken into custody a week ago. His supporters say they will continue to protest despite authorities cracking down on the rally and arresting hundreds of people, including journalists.
By Tuesday afternoon, police had detained 1,418 people, Home Minister Ali Erikaya said. Among them were 11 Turkish journalists covering the protests, seven of whom were detained.
“Street Terrorism”
Erdogan said Wednesday that he would not be addressed what his government described as “provocation” by major opposition.
Erdogan remained rebellious for a week of protests, denounced the rally as “street terrorism.”
“If you want to spread fear on the streets and set fire to this country, there’s nowhere to go. The road they took is a dead end,” he said.
Government officials rejected accusations that legal action against opposition figures were politically motivated, claiming that the Torquier courts would operate independently.
Protests erupted on March 19th after the arrest of Imamoguru on Graft and “terrorism” probes that his supporters accused as a “coup.” “Terrorism” accusations have been dismissed by courts for some time now.
Since then, vast crowds have taken part in street demonstrations, and anxiety has spread across the country, beating the ban on protests in Istanbul, the capital Ankara and Izmir.
Amid a possible change in tactics, the main opposition Republican Party (CHP) party said Wednesday it has not called for another nighttime protest outside the mayor of Istanbul’s office.
Most nights, some protests turned into a run-up battle with the riot police.
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