Düzce mayor joins list of resignations from ruling party’s local administrations

ANKARA

Mehmet Keleş, the mayor of the northern province of Düzce and a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has resigned from his post, joining a string of resignations from the party’s local administrations

Keleş’s son-in-law Emre Kurt was arrested in August over links with the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

The resignations come after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan earlier expressed plans for a substantial change to the party’s organization and all provincial branches because they are suffering from “metal fatigue.”

At the latest gathering of the AKP’s Central Decision Making and Executive Council (MKYK), party members had discussed about mayors that would leave their posts, sources who wanted to remain anonymous were quoted as saying by daily Hürriyet.

At the meeting, Erdoğan told MKYK members that five more mayors would resign before the 2019 elections, according to the sources.

Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş on Sept. 22 announced that he was stepping down from his post, which he had held for the past 13 years.

“We will review and update all our provincial organizations in cities, districts, and villages, because there is a fatigue that we need to avoid. We have to get ready for the 2019 elections with more dynamic and hardworking teams,” Erdoğan had told his AKP lawmakers in his first address as the party’s chairman on May 30.