Mayors send holiday messages from prison

In the local elections held in Türkiye on March 31, 2024, the CHP achieved great success after many years and emerged as the first party in the elections. The CHP also won 26 district municipalities in Istanbul. Following the elections, mayors were arrested one by one in operations carried out against CHP municipalities. The first operation was carried out at dawn on October 30 against Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer. Operations targeting Beşiktaş and Beykoz municipalities were then carried out. On March 18, the March 19 operation was carried out against IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose university diploma was revoked, and many municipal administrators. While the operations targeting the IMM continued in waves, operations were carried out against CHP municipalities on May 31. Mayors, most of whom were elected with record-breaking votes in 8 districts of Istanbul on March 1, 2024, are in prison. Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Köseler, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün, and Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe are in Silivri. Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık was also taken from Marmara Prison in Silivri to İzmir Buca Prison despite health problems and objections. In their holiday messages, the mayors said, "Our hearts are with you, our hope is standing tall. Difficulties are temporary, our love and faith are permanent. Our struggle is for our people to live in a way befitting human dignity. The days when justice and law will be manifested and the holidays will be lived joyfully with true feelings of brotherhood are not far away... Let us never give up on our solidarity, our hope, and our brotherhood." The holiday messages of the CHP mayors who spent Eid al-Adha in Marmara Prison in Silivri are as follows:

Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer:

"Dear People of Esenyurt, I congratulate all of you on the Eid al-Adha and wish you many more Eids in the days when freedom and justice prevail. We are experiencing a separate Eid al-Adha from you again… Separate from the people of Esenyurt, alone in my cell but my determination to fight is endless! My dear brothers and sisters, Eids are special days when joy and prosperity are shared. The injustices experienced, the deep poverty our people are faced with have left no one with either joy or prosperity. On the one hand, they talk about peace and brotherhood, on the other hand, we wake up to a new political operation being implemented every day. Which one will we believe? What we see or what we experience? What kind of peace is this, what kind of brotherhood is this? Do these people deserve these practices?

The days when the holidays will be lived joyfully with true feelings of brotherhood and justice are not far away. We will continue to struggle for more beautiful and more humane holidays inside. Our struggle is so that our people can live in a way befitting human dignity. This honorable struggle will continue until justice and justice are manifested. Indeed, this is what the people expect, and this is what befits our heavenly homeland. With these feelings, I congratulate all of you on the Eid al-Adha. I greet you all with love from Silivri.

Besiktas Mayor Riza Akpolat:

"In the squares, on the streets, in the market; we were together everywhere. For the first time in 6 years, I am spending the Eid al-Adha apart from my big Beşiktaş family. However, I believe that as the longing increases, reunion is also approaching. Happy Eid, my dear family. My heart is with you, my path is towards you." Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Köseler:

"This holiday, I am also spending it apart from my wife, my child, my loved ones and my beautiful Beykoz. Holidays always remind me of the power of being together and sharing. The bond of love and emotion overcomes distances and brings hearts together stronger on such days. I also find strength in these feelings here, I always feel your prayers with me and I await the day we will meet with great hope and faith... I wish to meet on holidays that we will spend in solidarity with that strong bond we have established sincerely together... Happy Eid al-Adha."

Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan:

“We are all together celebrating another Eid al-Adha, the symbol of sharing, solidarity and togetherness, which we celebrated side by side with you on the streets of Şişli last year. Know that on this holiday, I will walk among you, on the streets of Şişli, with all my heart, and celebrate Eid with each and every one of you. With great love and responsibility, we have achieved fair and solidarity-based works that give Şişli its due in 350 days. Both I and Şişli are entrusted to you. With the belief that we will meet again in free days, I celebrate Eid al-Adha and wish you a healthy, peaceful and fruitful Eid with your loved ones.”

Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe:

"My dear neighbors from Gaziosmanpaşa, although I cannot be with you physically this holiday, my heart is with each of you. We are in the days when Eid al-Adha increases solidarity, brotherhood and hope. Difficulties are temporary, but our love and faith are permanent. Hoping to reach many more holidays where we are more united with each other and justice and peace prevail... I wish you all a holiday full of health, peace and hope together with your loved ones. My heart is with you, my hope is standing tall. Happy Eid al-Adha."

Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara:

"Even though I can't be with you, my heart is in Avcılar, with you. I kiss the hands of my elders and the eyes of my younger ones. We will be together again, and we will experience the most beautiful holidays together."

Mayor of Büyükçekmece, Hasan Akgün:

"We will not be able to be with you for a while due to an unjust and unfair operation, together with our vice presidents Ömer Kazancı and Rıza Can Özdemir. However, know that; we have left our labor, love and faith to these lands. Even if we are apart, our hearts are with you and our struggle is with our Büyükçekmece. Today, I entrust not only myself but also our Büyükçekmece to your hearts. This beautiful city, where every stone has our sweat and every street has our common memories, is not just a place; it is our common conscience, our common tomorrow. I would like to express with the deep love I feel for this beautiful city and my great Büyükçekmece family; let us stand shoulder to shoulder in every difficulty and side by side in every joy. Let us never give up our solidarity, our hope and our brotherhood.

Whenever you turn your eyes to that beautiful greenery, feel that I am standing there like a plane tree. Our root is love, our trunk is labor, and our branches are you. When you despair, raise your head and look at that peaceful blue… Because there lies the hope of the tomorrows we have built together. May the bonds we have built grow even in my absence, take root even more, and become stronger. Because Büyükçekmece is not just a city; it is a heart, a soul, a family… We have overcome many difficulties together until today. We will build tomorrows together again. With this belief, with this determination… I entrust myself, my friends, and Büyükçekmece to your hearts. On this occasion, I congratulate the entire Islamic world and my great Büyükçekmece family on the Eid al-Adha; I wish the peace, abundance, and brotherhood brought by the holiday to touch our hearts. May our unity be permanent, our path be open, and may our Büyükçekmece always be filled with love and peace.

Source: ANKA