Interior Ministry now gunning for Beşiktaş mayor

According to a report by Fatma Aksu of Hürriyet, the Interior Ministry, following Ataşehir Mayor Battal İlgezdi, has sent a letter to Istanbul Provincial Governate with a view to removing CHP Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar from office.
 
It has emerged that, in the letter dated 1 December 2017 sent to the Governate about Murat Hazinedar signed by General Director Ekrem Canalp on behalf of the minister, an opinion is sought over removing Murat Hazinedar from office. Had documents of the kind wished for by the Ministry been forthcoming from the Governate, Hazinedar would have been removed from office prior to İlgezdi.
 
In the letter dated 24 November 2017 sent to the Istanbul Governate Provincial Local Authorities’ Directorate, reminder was made that the list of procedures being conducted by the Interior Ministry under the Law on the Prosecution of Civil Servants and Other Public Servants number 4483 had been sent, and, in view of the procedures on the list, the Governor’s opinion was sought, specification also being made of the ongoing investigations launched against Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar, over his being removed from office pursuant to the relevant article of the Constitution.
 
The Ministry persists
 
The Ministry, in its letter, drawing attention to the information in the reply letter that the Governate sent on the same day at the start of December that ongoing investigations or prosecutions launched against Hazinedar had not been identified, once more requested that the Ministry be notified of the Governor’s opinion on Hazinedar being removed from office “pursuant to paragraph four of Article 127 of the Constitution and Article 47 of the Municipalities Law taking additional account of investigations or prosecutions to be identified from the judicial authorities.”
 
The Ministry asked for an opinion as it had been unable to remove Hazinedar from office due to the lack of sufficient evidence and documents forthcoming in the first information to arrive from the Governate.
 
Now all eyes have turned to the reply that will emanate from the Governate for a second time. If, this time, sufficient information and documents concerning Hazinedar are forthcoming, he may be removed from office in line with the Governate’s opinion.
 
First comment from Hazinedar
 
For his part, Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar pointed to CHP Deputy General Chair Bülent Tezcan’s comments and said, “The comments and interpretations by the esteemed Deputy General Chair are perfectly adequate. There is currently nothing extra that can be said in addition to this comment.”