DEM appeals decision to mandate AKP candidate in Van

The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has objected to the decision of the Van Provincial Election Board to annul the candidacy of Abdullah Zeydan, who was elected as the Mayor of the Municipality, and to award the mandate to the AKP candidate, following an objection from the ruling party.

In a statement from the DEM Party press office, it was stated that Abdullah Zeydan and DEM Party lawyers applied to the Supreme Election Board today to request the cancellation of the decision of the Provincial Election Board.

The application stated that the decision to restore Zeydan's candidacy rights was made on April 4, 2023.

The application included the following statements:

"The decision to restore the candidacy rights was also sent to the Ministry of Justice, General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics, by the court itself. In this regard, there can be no fault attributed to our client.

After verifying the decision to restore the candidacy rights, it was recorded in the Criminal Records by the Ministry of Justice personnel, and our client had no involvement in this matter.

Similarly, the Ministry of Justice also preserved this Criminal Records for approximately one year. It was also the Ministry of Justice that provided our client with the Criminal Records Certificate showing no criminal record, to be submitted to the Van Provincial Election Board."

What happened?

Abdullah Zeydan was arrested on November 4, 2016, as part of an investigation into a speech he made at a press conference in Yüksekova on July 26, 2015.

In the trial held on January 11, 2018, at Diyarbakır 5th Heavy Penal Court, Zeydan was sentenced to 5 years for "assisting the organization without being a member" and 3 years, 1 month, and 15 days for "making propaganda for the organization."

Following the reversal decision by the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, the case was retried on January 6, 2022.

In the retrial at Diyarbakır 5th Heavy Penal Court, taking into account the time Zeydan had spent in detention, the court decided to release him.

Before the elections, Zeydan completed all legal procedures and applied to the Supreme Election Board, and his candidacy was accepted by the Supreme Election Board after the necessary examinations.

However, on March 29, 2024, five minutes before the end of office hours, the Ministry of Justice objected to his candidacy rights with an administrative decision and letter.

Following an examination today (April 2) after the objection, the Van Provincial Election Board decided by majority vote to annul Zeydan's mayoralty and to appoint AKP candidate Abdulahat Arvas as the new mayor.

The President of the Van Provincial Election Board, Murat Altundere, objected to the annulment of Zeydan's candidacy.

Zeydan received 245,573 votes in the elections held on March 31, while AKP candidate Abdulahat Arvas received 120,147 votes. (RT/VK)