The banner with the inscription “Green Ephesus Selçuk – We Are Working”, hung by the Selçuk Municipality for the promotion of the renewed park service in the city, is based on the application made to the district election board by the representative of the AKP Presidential candidate, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, by the Selçuk District Election Board during the election periods. The law regulating political activities applicable to political parties was banned on the grounds of reason.
CHP and IYI Party members put an opinion in opposition to the decision taken under the chairmanship of Selcuk District Election Board Chairman Kemal Burak Özgür.
In the scandalous decision, article 60 of the Law No. 298 on Basic Provisions of Elections and Electoral Registers, titled “Announcements and advertisement places”, was cited as the reason for the ban.
The article in question includes the visual promotion activities carried out by candidates and parties within the scope of their political activities during the election period.
CHP and IYI Party members, on the other hand, emphasized that the banner subject to the complaint had nothing to do with the election, in their dissenting comments against the scandalous decision, and stated that this complaint was an indication that the AKP was uncomfortable with the services of the Selçuk Municipality.
The dissent is as follows:
“The banner that is the subject of the complaint has nothing to do with the election. Municipalities cannot be included in the general elections. The banner subject to the complaint is an information banner about the service provided by the Selçuk Municipality. Municipalities are public institutions. The municipality can and has to hang a banner describing the service it provides. This is a complaint that shows that he is uncomfortable with the municipal services. It is our opposition to the complaint made with the knowledge that the public institutions of the municipality cannot be used as a political tool.”
SENGEL: WE DON’T KNOW THIS SCANDAL DECISION
Reacting to the decision, Mayor of Selçuk, Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel, said, “We regretfully regret the scandalous decision taken by the district election board, despite the opposition of CHP and IYI Party members, as an indication of the irrational and biased understanding of the party state into which our country’s bureaucracy is dragged. Neither our state nor our municipalities can be seen as the backyard of anyone’s political interests. We will continue to work for a green and livable Selçuk, and we will not allow our children’s present or future to be overshadowed by personal political interests. We do not recognize this scandalous decision, we will continue to work for the welfare of our Ephesus Seljuk citizens from all political views,” he said.