Deputy Mayor of Üsküdar Municipality, Amine Cansu Çelik, was detained and arrested on September 5, before the re-election of the deputy mayor in the municipal council, and was later released on the condition of house arrest. Çelik announced that he resigned from his membership in the Republican People's Party after the process he went through.
While Çelik described his decision as "a requirement of his political and conscientious responsibility", he stated that he would keep the interests of Üsküdar and the people of Üsküdar above political calculations in the future.
“THE PROCESS THAT I AM EXPERIENCED HAS TOOK A POINT OF IRREVERSIBILITY”
In his statement on his social media account, Çelik stated that he accepted the offer from CHP in the 2024 local elections with the idea of serving Üsküdar beyond political affiliation debates.
Stating that he had serious hesitations due to some assignments and management processes during his term of office, Çelik claimed that his authority and work area as deputy mayor were limited from time to time and systematically excluded.
HE WAS ARRESTED BEFORE THE ELECTION
Çelik was detained before the re-election of the deputy mayor in Üsküdar Municipality and was arrested on September 5. He was later released on the condition of house arrest.
After Sinem Dedetaş, who was elected Mayor of Üsküdar in the local elections of March 31, 2024, was suspended from office, the process of electing deputy mayors in the municipal council began. In the first election, CHP candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya was elected as deputy president, and after objections to the election result, it was decided to renew the election.
Before the renewal process, operations were carried out against some CHP municipal council members, and in addition to Çelik, Mithat Özdemir and Ekrem Baki were also detained.
Amine Cansu Çelik's post on her social media account is as follows:
"I accepted the offer from the Republican People's Party in the 2024 local elections with the idea that I would have the opportunity to serve Üsküdar and the people of Üsküdar, beyond the debates about political affiliation. The main criterion for me was to what extent I could serve the people of Üsküdar, rather than what position I held. However, the management approach I encountered over time clearly showed that this expectation was not met.
During my tenure, I witnessed assignments that caused me to have serious hesitations about merit and management processes that I thought were shaped outside institutional authority and responsibilities. The periodic limitations of my authority and work area as Deputy Mayor, practices that make it difficult for me to fulfill my duties in a healthy manner, and the systematic exclusion that I believe I have been subjected to have reached an unacceptable situation for me over time.
Besides; I saw that my political past, my stance and my response in society were made part of a public image and abused from time to time, without opening a real management area for me.
The legal process being carried out today has brought all these events to a much more serious level for me. During my detention, I witnessed with regret that both myself and my wife were pressured by the CHP and the New Party district and provincial organization to resign from the municipal council membership, before the Deputy Mayor election. Despite the conditions I was in and the difficult process my family was going through, instead of being faced with such a demand and pressure, the fact that those responsible for the failures of political foresight and process management were ignored further deepened my disappointment.
In this management structure, in which I took part with the idea of serving Üsküdar, staff from outside Üsküdar have become effective in the institutional functioning of the municipality over time. The consequences of some management, business and relationships that took place beyond my will and responsibility, for which I warned and objected from time to time, reached me and my family. In this process, I was deprived of my freedom and, above all, I was separated from my four-year-old child.
This difficult process I have gone through has brought the hesitations I have been carrying for a long time to a point of no return for me.
Politics; I saw it as a means of serving the nation, not of personal calculations or struggles for position, outside of institutional will. I maintain the same understanding today.
For these reasons, I hereby inform the public that I have resigned from my membership in the Republican People's Party, as required by my political and conscientious responsibility. In the future, I will continue to keep the interests of Üsküdar, the people of Üsküdar and our nation above all political considerations, as I have done so far.
It is announced to the public with respect.”
