Elections & campaignsAbuse of power & retaliation
Turkey's Interior Ministry has replaced at least 13 elected mayors, mostly from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, with government-appointed trustees since the 2024 local elections
Confidence: Corroborated · 3 sourcesTurkey · Sep 22, 2026
Subject of this story
Ministry of Interior (Turkey)
Also named
Affected
Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party)
Republican People's Party (CHP)
What happened
Since the March 2024 local elections, Turkey's Ministry of Interior has dismissed elected mayors — largely from the DEM Party but since October 2024 also from the main opposition CHP — over terrorism-related indictments or convictions that have not become final, and installed appointed trustees (kayyum) in their place, including in Siirt (January 2025) and Kağızman. Opposition parties and rights groups say the practice lets the executive overturn election results by administrative decree before any conviction is final.
By the numbers (1)
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
Figures
○
Turkey's Interior Ministry has appointed trustees to at least 13 municipalities since the March 2024 local elections, mostly replacing DEM Party mayors.
1 source
- Duvar English
appointed trustees to at least 13 municipalities since the March 2024 local elections
Sources (3)
Duvar EnglishTurkey's Interior Ministry has appointed trustees to at least 13 municipalities since the March 2024 local elections, mostly replacing DEM Party mayors.
ANF News (English)The Ministry of Interior has appointed trustees to 12 municipalities, dismissing elected co-mayors following terrorism-related indictments that had not concluded.
Channel8The Turkish government appointed a trustee for Siirt Municipality after a court sentenced co-mayor Sofya Alagas to six years and three months in prison, a sentence not yet final.
Response
Ministry of Interior (Turkey)
No response by publication
Contacted — no response by publication.
What happened next (0)
No outcome recorded yet.