An İstanbul court has released seven of nine defendants jailed in the so-called “urban consensus” case, which concerns the opposition’s cooperation strategy in the March 31, 2024, local elections. Two municipal council members will remain in custody as the trial continues, the Anka news agency reported.
The case stems from an investigation earlier this year in which police detained senior officials from nine İstanbul district municipalities — most of them governed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) — on terrorism-related allegations.
Prosecutors accuse deputy mayors and city council members of recruiting members or sympathizers of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) under the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party’s (DEM Party) “urban consensus model.” The strategy involved consulting a broad set of community actors in candidate selection and forming local alliances with other parties. In some districts, support from the DEM Party helped CHP mayoral candidates to win.
Prosecutors claim the model aimed to increase Kurdish participation in municipal governance, influence council decisions and create political leverage in western districts in exchange for electoral support, even in areas where DEM Party candidates were not expected to win the mayoralty.
Thursday’s hearing was held at the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court. The prosecutor asked for the release of İstanbul city council members on trial but sought to keep Sancaktepe city council member Elif Gül in custody.
In its interim ruling the court ordered the release of seven defendants and ruled that Gül and Beyoğlu city council member Turabi Şen would remain behind bars.
At an earlier hearing the court released İkbal Polat, an adviser to the Beyoğlu mayor, under judicial supervision with a travel ban while keeping the others in custody.
Security was ramped up at İstanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse before Thursday’s session. The main entrance was closed to members of the public without scheduled hearings and to journalists without press cards, prompting scuffles with security forces. Advisors and bodyguards of DEM Party lawmakers were also denied entry, Birgün said.
Outside the courthouse the DEM Party and the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), an umbrella group for left-wing and pro-Kurdish organizations, made a press statement calling for the release of those on trial. Attendees included DEM Party MP and HDK co-spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş, DEM Party MPs Kezban Konukçu and Celal Fırat, DEM parliamentary group deputy chair Sezai Temelli, HDK co-spokesperson Ali Kenanoğlu and CHP group deputy chair Ülkü İnanlı.
Beştaş said the case seeks to criminalize legitimate electoral cooperation. “This is not a crime. Acting together to govern a city is not a crime,” she said.
İnanlı said the trial is part of a broader pattern of politically driven prosecutions targeting local democracy. “For a year now we have been watching a series of farcical prosecutions that began with the arrest of Ahmet Özer,” she said. “This case is a black stain not only on legal history but on world history.”
Özer, the CHP mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district, was the first mayor from the party to be arrested and removed from office in a crackdown that began nearly a year ago. He was released earlier this month.
The release of seven people comes at a time of ongoing peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish government aimed at ending a four-decades long armed conflict.
The PKK, which announced its decision in May to lay down arms and dissolve itself, is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Meanwhile, a recent CHP report says 16 mayors from the party remain jailed and that government-appointed trustees have taken over 13 municipalities — including İstanbul’s Esenyurt and Şişli districts — during the year-long crackdown.
CHP leader Özgür Özel has condemned the detentions as politically motivated, saying the moves aim to weaken local democracy and undermine opposition control in major cities.