Şişli Deputy Mayor Sarıgül resigns from post after row with mayor

ISTANBUL

Emir Sarıgül, the deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district, resigned from his post on Dec 19, amid a bitter row between the current and former Şişli mayors. AA photo

The deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district, Emir Sarıgül, resigned from his post on Dec. 19 after a row between himself, his father and former Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül, and current Mayor Hayri İnönü.

Emir Sarıgül said in a press conference on Dec. 19 that he was resigning from his Şişli Municipality deputy mayor position, which he had held since the local elections on March 30, 2014.

“I am resigning from the Şişli Municipality deputy mayor position in order to give Hayri İnönü, who has been complaining on every occasion that he cannot administer the municipality, the chance he wanted,” he said.

The resignation comes amid accusations from İnönü that Mustafa Sarıgül has been issuing him with death threats, after a row erupted during a meeting in Ankara on Dec. 16 between İnönü, Emir Sarıgül, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and CHP deputy İlhan Özkes.

İnönü recently denied reports that Emir Sarıgül had threatened him, instead pointing the finger at his father.

“I first had a private meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu. It was very warm, but then came İlhan Özkes and Emir. Emir asked me several times, ‘Have I threatened you?’ I replied by saying, ‘No, you haven’t.’ It is not Emir Sarıgül who threatened me. I have nothing to say about Emir Sarıgül, other than that he works with me … It is Mustafa Sarıgül who threatened me. Emir came here and even swore at me, but he didn’t threaten,” he said.

In his own press conference, Emir Sarıgül denied that either he or his father had threatened or sworn at İnönü, vowing to take the “necessary judicial precautions” against the accusations.