Turkiye ruling party wins Bursa municipality after opposition mayor jailed

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s ruling party on Thursday won control of the country’s fourth-largest city, Bursa, after its mayor was jailed in the latest blow to the opposition.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, won control of the northwestern city in 2014, defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP.
But the city’s CHP mayor, Mustafa Bozbey, was arrested last week on charges including leading a criminal organization and corruption.
The interior ministry subsequently dismissed him from office, prompting Bozbey to denounce what he called “an injustice done to the will of the people of Bursa.”
In a vote held by the city council on Thursday to appoint a new mayor, the CHP declined to field a candidate.
Sahin Biba, the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was elected in the third round of voting as the sole candidate.
Bursa is a former capital of the Ottoman empire.
The CHP has been facing growing pressure since the March 19 arrest last year of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on graft allegations.
Imamoglu is widely seen as one of the only politicians capable of defeating Erdogan at the ballot box in elections due before mid-2028.
Over the last year, dozens of CHP mayors were put behind bars.