Jelena Drenjanin, Chair of the European Committee of the Regions’ Working Group on Türkiye, has joined a cross-institutional group of European rapporteurs in issuing a joint letter to the Turkish authorities expressing serious concerns over the state of local democracy in the country.
The letter, addressed to Türkiye’s Minister of the Interior, was co-signed by senior representatives from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the European Parliament, and the Committee of the Regions, underlining the broad institutional backing behind the message.
In her reaction Drenjanin said "As chair of the CoR Working Group Türkiye, I am concerned with attempts to silence mayors in Türkiye and how it is weakening democracy. This is why I have co-signed a joint letter to the Minister of Interior of Türkiye which denounces ongoing practices. With this letter, the CoR, along with our international partners, reaffirms our commitment to defending the political and civil rights of all democratically-elected local representatives in Türkiye, and strongly condemns the continuing arbitrary detentions of mayors across the country. Local leaders in Türkiye must be allowed to play their rightful role in shaping the future of their communities, without fear of repression from the central government.
This follows on from our resolution adopted in April 2025, which condemns the arrests of elected mayors, including of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and calls for their immediate release, as such detentions constitute a severe breach of democratic rules and a blatant disregard of the will of the electorate. The systematic targeting of opposition politicians threatens the foundations of democratic societies and we will continue to use all available political and institutional instruments to defend local democracy and support elected officials who are unjustly targeted in Türkiye."
In the letter, the signatories stress that their engagement with Türkiye is grounded in shared values — democracy, human rights and the rule of law — and warn that recent developments risk undermining these principles. They highlight in particular the prolonged pre-trial detention of elected local officials, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose detention has now entered its second year.
The rapporteurs state that the continued detention of opposition-affiliated mayors raises serious concerns about compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and risks weakening democracy by undermining voters’ ability to freely choose their representatives.
Drenjanin’s participation in the joint initiative is consistent with her long-standing position on Türkiye. In previous statements, she has repeatedly warned of an “erosion of local democracy”, criticised the detention and replacement of elected mayors, and called for respect for the rule of law and democratic standards as essential conditions for closer EU–Türkiye relations.