Turkish mayor resigns after ‘resisting’ ruling AKP’s demand for days

ORDU

The mayor of a northern Turkish province has resigned after reportedly rejecting a call from the ruling Justice and Development Party to step down four days ago.

“There are so many things to say but I’m pushing them into the depths of my heart, so that they cool down. I am ending my 23-year career in politics,” Ordu Mayor Enver Yılmaz said in a tweet on Sept. 18.

Ordu Mayor Enver Yılmaz was in the headquarters of his party in Ankara on Sept. 13. It was claimed that he was asked by AKP leaders to resign.

Instead of resigning, Yılmaz tweeted negative comments about AKP’s deputy chair Numan Kurtulmuş after his meetings. He later deleted the tweets, which were referring to Kurtulmuş’s criticism of the AKP before his switch to the ruling party.

Yılmaz’s bodyguards had fought with the bodyguards of a police chief in front of Kurtulmuş during a festival in Ordu last year. The Interior Ministry had launched an investigation into the incident.

With the March 2019 local elections approaching, the ruling party had previously demanded the resignation of the Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Düzce, Balıkesir and Niğde mayors. They had all complied.