AKP takes control of another İstanbul district after opposition members change sides

• AKP took control of the Princes’ Islands municipality after an acting mayoral vote. In the 2024 election, it received 22.8% of the vote compared to 55.4% of the CHP.

Opposition members withdrew after alleging irregularities in the voting process, claiming that a council members was released from prison in exchange for voting for the AKP.

The result raised the number of İstanbul districts controlled by the AKP to 21 following corruption operations. It had won only 13 districts in the election.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has taken control of İstanbul’s Princes’ Islands (Adalar) municipality after its candidate won an acting mayoral election following the suspension of the district’s elected mayor in a corruption investigation.

Kemal Türkyılmaz was elected acting mayor in the fourth round of voting held yesterday on the Büyükada island, receiving all five votes cast after opposition members withdrew in protest over the procedure.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) won the Princes’ Islands mayoralty with 55.49% of the vote in the 2024 local elections, while the AKP candidate received 22.85%. The CHP had secured 10 of the 12 seats on the municipal council, with the AKP taking two.

The balance on the council changed after a corruption investigation was launched into the municipality in June. A total of five councik members from the CHP, including Mayor Ali Ercan Akpolat and his deputy, were suspended from office after being detained on allegations including bribery, extortion, forgery of official documents and abuse of office.

The council elected CHP member Medine Pamuk as acting mayor on Jun 27. She resigned on Sep 14 citing health problems.

A new election scheduled for Sep 21 could not be held because CHP members did not attend, preventing the council from reaching the required count. The vote was rescheduled for yesterday.

Before yesterday’s vote, a substitute member joined the council in place of one of the suspended members. Seven of the nine members eligible to vote were therefore members of the CHP.

Despite that composition, the AKP candidate received five votes in the first round, while the CHP candidate received four. Arguments broke out in the council chamber after the vote, and the room was cleared.

Following the dispute, an MP from the New (Yeni) Party, a splinter movement from the CHP, told Halk TV that one of the council members detained in the initial investigation had been reinstated in exchange for voting for the AKP.

“Five of our friends were detained. Three are still in prison and two were released. However, among those two, the restriction on only one of them was lifted and he was reinstated so that he could vote for the AKP,” the official claimed.

Opposition members protested the process by withdrawing from the fourth round. AKP’s Türkyılmaz then received all five votes cast and was elected acting mayor.

Eight districts changed hands after election

The result raised the number of İstanbul district municipalities controlled by the AKP to 21.

In the 2024 local elections, the CHP won 26 of İstanbul’s 39 district municipalities, while the AKP won 13. Eight municipalities in the city have changed hands since nationwide corruption investigations targeting the CHP began in March 2025.

Üsküdar, one of İstanbul’s major districts, also passed to AKP control on Sep 8 after some council members were detained and others changed parties.

New Party officials alleged that some council members who switched sides in Üsküdar had been threatened with imprisonment. The party also expressed concern that similar methods could be used to secure control of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was jailed pending trial in a corruption investigation in March last year and remains in custody. The metropolitan municipality is currently run by an acting mayor from the opposition.

(VK)