New Party leader rallies in Üsküdar after AKP assumes control of municipality
New Party chief Özgür Özel denounced the AKP’s takeover of Üsküdar’s municipal administration and pledged to reclaim the district in upcoming elections.
At a rally in Üsküdar on September 12, New Party leader Özgür Özel condemned the Justice and Development Party’s recent seizure of the district’s municipal leadership after the council installed an interim mayor. The move followed the August 31 arrest of Sinem Dedetaş, the mayor elected under the Republican People’s Party, who had received roughly 157,000 votes. Özel, who departed the CHP on July 24 with a group of 91 lawmakers to launch the New Party, recounted the CHP’s decades-long campaign to win over Üsküdar residents.
He assured his audience that the opposition need not be discouraged and pledged to win the forthcoming election. Özel framed the episode as evidence of a new political era, urging all democrats to unite against what he described as outdated politics. The event underscores the shifting balance of power in one of Istanbul’s key districts.
Why it matters
The AKP’s control of Üsküdar shifts a pivotal Istanbul district from opposition to ruling party, affecting local politics and upcoming elections.
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTLeft-leaning coverage frames the story as evidence of Turkey’s democratic erosion and the risk that opposition victories will not translate into power, while centrist coverage centers on the street protests against the mayor’s arrest and presents the arrest as a political persecution dispute.
LEFT
Highlights systemic backsliding under Erdoğan, questioning whether electoral defeats will ever transfer power.
CENTER
Focuses on the protest in Üsküdar and describes the mayor’s arrest as a contested political persecution.
The left emphasises
- democratic erosion under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
- use of institutions to overturn opposition victories
- Western governments are aware of these trends
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