In the Local Administrations General Elections on March 31st, Hasan Asan, a candidate for muhtar in Yaylaönü Mahallesi, was elected as muhtar by receiving the votes of 137 electors. The current muhtar, Yakup Toprak, who lost the election by a margin of 26 votes, filed a petition with the District Election Board, claiming that Asan’s election should be invalidated due to his criminal record. After the objection period passed, he also appealed to the Supreme Election Board (YSK).
Upon evaluation, the YSK determined that Asan had been sentenced to 2 years, 4 months, and 3 days in prison in 2019 by the Çaykara Asliye Criminal Court for violating the laws on illegal construction and the Protection of Culture and Nature. As a result, the YSK decided that the muhtar’s certificate could not be issued to Hasan Asan due to his criminal record, and it should be issued to the next candidate who had received the highest votes and had the qualifications for election.
It was revealed that the second-place candidate in the elections, Toprak, had also been convicted of violating the laws on the Protection of Culture and Nature, and had a sentence of 18 months in prison. Therefore, as both candidates had criminal records, the YSK ruled that the certificates should not be issued to either of them, and a new election should be held in Yaylaönü Mahallesi on June 2nd.
Until the new election, the duty of the muhtar was determined to be performed by Özkan Toprak, the first assistant of the elected candidate. Hasan Asan, one of the muhtar candidates, expressed his disappointment with the decision of the YSK, stating that despite winning the election by 26 votes, his muhtar certificate could not be issued due to his criminal record. He also mentioned that the previous muhtar, Yakup Toprak, had a criminal record as well, but there had been no objections back then.
Hasan Asan explained that he had received a prison sentence for violating the Protection of Culture and Nature laws due to his business being located in a third-degree archaeological site in the district. He expressed his frustration with the situation and mentioned that they would have to go to the polls again on June 2nd due to the YSK’s decision. On the other hand, Yakup Toprak, the former muhtar who had served three terms, expressed his intention to withdraw from the election as he was deemed ineligible by the YSK similarly to Hasan Asan.
In response to the unexpected turn of events, the residents of Yaylaönü expressed their disbelief at the situation, with one resident, Murat Toprak, describing the election as a “joke.” Despite the confusion and uncertainty regarding the muhtar election, the community members expressed their willingness to respect the results of the new election scheduled for June and emphasized the importance of democracy and the electoral process.
