Council of Europe to send mission to Turkey amid ‘democratic backsliding’

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is preparing to send a fact-finding mission to Türkiye following what it describes as “democratic backsliding” including the widespread dismissal of elected mayors.

Although the situation came to international attention after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on 23 March 2025, the Council of Europe had already scheduled a debate last week in response to the close to 150 elected mayors many from opposition parties who have been dismissed since 2016, often replaced by government-appointed trustees.

İmamoğlu was arrested just as his party, the CHP, was voting to select him as its presidential candidate, which the Congress president, Marc Cools, described as  “nothing to do with justice, and everything to do with politics.”

“We want to see an end to the removal of mayors, the dismissal of mayors and replacement by trustees. We don’t think that that’s fair or appropriate,” Bryony Rudkin, one of the Congress’s co-rapporteurs for the CoE on Türkiye, told Euronews.

She said that the issue was not legal, but a fundamentally democratic one: “We want to see a restoration, really, of democratic rights and accountability for local authorities in Turkey.”

David Eray, the other CoE co-rapporteur, described how a previous monitoring mission revealed several key issues that contradicted the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which Türkiye has signed. “The main points were the dismissing of [mayors] and replacement by trustees, which is not fitting with what we expect in a democracy,” Eray said.

He added that the problem was not isolated to one political group: “Now it’s also the party of Mr. İmamoğlu, the CHP… and we don’t feel comfortable with that.”

Eray and Rudkin said that the Congress’s debate was planned before İmamoğlu’s arrest, which only heightened the urgency. “We did not get feedback [from Turkish authorities on our recommendations], and as we saw that some mayors were dismissed, we proposed to the bureau to organize a special debate,” said Eray. Meanwhile, Rudkin described the situation as an example of “democratic backsliding that we would recognise in the rest of Europe.”

During last week's debate, Congress members adopted a declaration calling on Türkiye to release all detained mayors and stop politically motivated prosecutions. The Congress condemned İmamoğlu’s imprisonment and criticised the revocation of his university diploma - needed to run for president, as a clear political tactic. They also warned that millions of Turkish citizens risk being governed by unelected officials, with their democratic voice effectively silenced.

Looking ahead, both co-rapporteurs outlined their next steps to Euronews. “We will be going as soon as it’s practicable to see for ourselves, to speak to officials and to speak to whoever we can in terms of elected representatives,” said Bryony Rudkin. 

She said that their focus will include the well-being of detained mayors: “That [detention] is an incredibly harsh punishment for people who have done nothing other than be democratically elected.”

Eray also confirmed plans for a fact-finding mission, stating that they aim to understand “how it happens, because we have the news, we have the information, but we need to see the facts.”

The Turkish government did not respond to a request for comment. During the session, Tahir Büyükakın, Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and a member of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) criticised the statement, saying “The law works in Turkey, the judicial process continues and we will not allow perceptions to be framed by operations distorting the truth.”