CHP leader slams arrest of Urla mayor, says Turkey ‘does not have democracy’

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has slammed the arrest and removal of his party's district mayor for the Aegean province of İzmir, over alleged links to the FETÖ, the group behind the defeated coup attempt of 2016.

"There is no democracy, no law in [Turkey]. Everything is being implemented with the will of just one person. We are not going to take a step back because our mayor has been arrested," Kılıçdaroğlu said late on Dec. 17, during an interview to private broadcaster KRT TV.

"We will continue to put up a fight until democracy arrives [in Turkey] in a real sense," he added.

İbrahim Burak Oğuz, CHP's mayor for İzmir's Urla district, was arrested on Dec. 17. Oğuz is the first head of a CHP-run municipality to be arrested since the March 31 elections. Oğuz is facing charges on being a member of FETÖ.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency on Dec. 18 reported that Oğuz has been suspended from duty. According to the agency, the Interior Ministry also suspended three more mayors of eastern Muş Province. Adnan Topçu and Ülkü Karaaslan Baytaş of Muş's Bulanık and Varto districts, respectively, have been detained, on charges of "aiding a terrorist organization" and "making terrorist propaganda."

Dilaver Kesik, the mayor of Erentepe town in Bulanık district, has also been detained on the same charges. The ministry has appointed new acting mayors for all four municipalities.

During his interview, Kılıçdaroğlu conveyed that the Urla mayor went to testify with his lawyer, upon an "invitation" from the prosecutor's office, and the court arrested him.

"His arrest is wrong," he said, adding that Oğuz has no suspicion to flee.

The CHP leader also...