CoR members and Turkish mayors reiterate shared commitment to local democracy as fundamental European value

A delegation of members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 16 December called on the government of Türkiye to release 28 arrested mayors and stop applying pressure on municipalities controlled by opposition politicians.

The EU delegation also voiced concern at a recent announcement of plans for further reform that would result in more powers being given to centrally appointed governors, at the expense of locally elected politicians. The head of the CoR delegation, Jelena Drenjanin (SE/EPP), said that the reforms would be a further blow to local democracy in Türkiye and called for safeguarding of opposition mayors.

The delegation was in Türkiye on for a meeting of the CoR Working Group on relations with Türkiye, hosted in the municipality of Maltepe in Istanbul, with local politicians from across Türkiye's political spectrum. Topics on the agenda of the CoR's Working Group on Türkiye - which was co-hosted by Esin Köymen, mayor of Maltepe municipality, and Nuri Aslan, acting mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality - were recent developments in Türkiye and in EU-Türkiye relations and democratic local governance. The acting president of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye and Mayor of Mersin, Vahap Seçer, highlighted the importance of the working group as a unique tool for dialogue in EU-Türkiye relations.

A request to be allowed to visit Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in prison was rejected. This is the second time in four months that Turkish authorities have denied CoR politicians an opportunity to see Mayor İmamoğlu.

Mayor İmamoğlu co-hosted the previous meeting in Türkiye of the CoR Working Group, in December 2024. The other co-host of that meeting - Resul Emrah Şahan, mayor of Şişli - was also jailed in March.

Of the 28 mayors arrested and removed from office since the last local elections, 11 of which being replaced by government-appointed trustees. The CoR in April called for an end to the replacement of elected politicians by trustees, a call reiterated on 16 December by CoR delegates in Istanbul.

While emphasising that the threats posed to local democracy in Türkiye by the wave of arrests and by planned reforms, CoR members noted some positive developments. These include very high turnout - 80% - in the 2024 local elections, a record number of female mayors elected, and the ongoing peace process that led the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to decide in May to lay down arms.

The meeting will feed into CoR political recommendations on the EU's enlargement package 2025 that are due for adoption in March 2026. The enlargement package consists of the European Commission's assessment of candidate countries' progress on EU-related reforms.

Quote:

Jelena Drenjanin (SE/EPP), chair of the Working Group on Türkiye and member of Huddinge Municipality Council: "Türkiye is a strategic partner for the EU on an increasing number of files. But partnership and membership are not the same; the former is about shared interest; the latter is first and foremost about shared values. Local democracy needs to be one of these shared values and cannot be taken for granted. We call on the Turkish government to release the arrested mayors, abolish the system of government-appointed trustees, stop pressure on opposition municipalities, and respect the fundamental principles of the EU accession process - namely, the rule of law, human rights and democracy. Local democracy will remain an integral part of the European Union-Türkiye relationship, and any positive agenda should be linked to a genuine improvement of democracy."

Background:

• Meeting information: The agenda of the CoR's Working Group on Türkiye.
• CoR Working Group on Türkiye: The overall objective of the CoR Working Group on Türkiye is to foster a permanent dialogue between European and Turkish local and regional representatives. The CoR also collaborates actively with Türkiye in Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), of which Vahap Seçer, mayor of Mersin and interim president of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye, is a member. The EU recently launched a new Pact for the Mediterranean that embeds a local dimension to cooperation within the Mediterranean region.
• CoR's response to the arrest and jailing of local politicians in Türkiye: In April 2025, the CoR unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the arrest and imprisonment of Mayor İmamoğlu and other local politicians. The resolution called for the release of the arrested mayors, the end of the trustee practice, and the imposition of sanctions against officials involved in the system. It announced the CoR's intention to visit Mayor İmamoğlu in prison as a demonstration of solidarity with all arrested elected officials. Jelena Drenjanin (SE/EPP), chair of the Working Group on Türkiye and Joško Klisović (HR/PES), member of the Assembly of the City of Zagreb, visited Istanbul in September and met with key representatives from all sides of the political spectrum but were refused access to Mayor İmamoğlu.