Asian Women Mayors News

Women Mayors reporting from Asia

> Turkey accused of wilfully arresting opposition mayors

> Hong Kong's last pro-democracy party to disband

> Turkish mayor tells UN: Women are a force for peace

Turkish women protest against the arrest of Istanbul city president Ekrem İmamoğlu and other Turkish mayors. (The poster depicts İmamoğlu and reads Turkey will win)

TURKEY

Ankara’s city president accuses Turkey’s authorities of wilfully arresting and detaining opposition mayors

July 2025: For months after police arrested and detained Istanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Turkish authorities arrested three other opposition mayors. According to the Anadolu Agency, Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids on Saturday, 5 July. The mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was arrested separately. All mayors belong to Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office stated that the mayors of three southern cities were detained on allegations of extortion, along with eight other individuals.

Other arrests last week (1 to 5 July 2025) include the former mayor of Izmir, Tunc Soyer, together with 137 municipal officials. They are accused of tender rigging and fraud. Tunc Soyer’s lawyer described the charges as unjust, unlawful and politically motivated.

The government insists that prosecutors and the judiciary act independently and denies that the crackdown is linked to the CHP's huge victory against Erdogan's AKP party in the 2024 local elections.

Turkish broadcaster NTV said the men were detained as part of the broader investigation in which hundreds of CHP members, including 11 mayors, have been targeted since October.

Ankara’s CHP mayor Mansur Yavas questioned why members of his party are arrested and detained as soon as unsubstantiated and often anonymous allegations are made, while similar accusations against mayors from the ruling AKP party are ignored. “In a system where the law is bent and twisted according to politics, where justice is applied to one group and ignored by another, no one should expect us to trust the rule of law or believe in justice.”

In a separate move against Turkish opposition politicians, authorities launched a probe into the leader of the main opposition party, CHP, for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The probe, which could result in Özgür Özel being stripped of his parliamentary immunity.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy party announces its disbandment

June 2025: Hong Kong’s last active pro-democracy group in Hong Kong has announced its disbandment due to “immense political pressure”. In a statement, the League of Social Democrats (LSD), a relatively small left-wing party, which was founded in 2006, said it had reached its conclusion after “careful deliberation”, particularly about the consequences for its members.

Party leader, Chan Po-ying, refused to elaborate on the pressure but said she was proud to say that the party had still contributed to the city’s pro-democracy movement in these few years. “We have stayed true to our original aspirations and haven’t let down the trust placed in us by those who went to prison,” she said. “While we are now forced to disband and feel an ache in our conscience, we have no other choice,” she said.

“Over these 19 years, we have endured hardships of internal disputes and the near-total imprisonment of our leadership, while witnessing the erosion of civil society, the fading of grassroots voices, the omnipresence of red lines, and the draconian suppression of dissent,” the League of Social Democrats said.

Founded in 2006, the LSD was known for advocating democratic reform and supporting the working class. It held seats in the Legislative Council and the District Councils before an electoral overhaul in 2021 effectively barred members of the opposition from standing.

With its dissolution, the LSD joins the dozens of political parties, labour unions, and civil society groups that have disbanded since the security law was enacted. Party leader Chan described the dissolution as part of a domino effect: “After the Democratic Party, it was the League of Social Democrats. After us, who’s next?”

Fernando Cheung, spokesperson for Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas, said LSD's dissolution "further reveals the near purging of Hong Kong's pan-democratic political parties and civil society organisations".

After the imposition of the national security law and with most of the city's democracy campaigners jailed or overseas, the Civic Party closed in 2023, and in February, the Democratic Party began winding down.

LSD member and former convenor of the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front Figo Chan, said: “The LSD advocated for marginalised communities, including migrant workers, refugees, the LGBT community, and labour issues. Even though the LSD has dissolved, I hope Hong Kong people will continue to give these communities their attention.”

Statement by the Hong Kong League of Social Democrats (LSD)

“Since our founding, LSD has proudly proclaimed itself as a firm and outspoken opposition force under a political system lacking universal suffrage and heavily skewed in favour of a privileged few. We upheld the motto, “power to the people”, not only by fighting for one-person-one-vote as an essential pillar of democracy, but also by widespread civic action, from petitions and marches to referendums, to restore power to the people it rightly belongs to.

Guided by the principle of ‘Standing Unflinchingly with the Vulnerable,’ we amplified silenced voices and exposed unjust policies and wasteful white elephant projects. We cried ‘No struggle, No change’, as we protested by way of non-violence – from the legislature, in the streets, and through the courts – all for the pursuit of advancing civil rights, universal suffrage, and social welfare.

For the past two decades, LSD has played an active role in every major social movement and policy initiative in Hong Kong. We were always there. We never stepped back.”

Sources: Hong Kong League of Social Democrats; Hong Kong Free Press

SRI LANKA / COLOMBO

Sri Lanka’s ruling leftist party nominates a woman for mayor of Colombo

March 2025: Since the elections of a centre-left president and government in Sri Lanka in September and November 2024, all the country’s major political parties have pledged to strengthen the role of women in government. Of course, promises are easy, but actions must follow. Whether this will be the case will become clear on 6 May 2025, when local elections are held in Sri Lanka. All eyes are on Colombo, the country’s capital city, where Vraie Cally Balthazar, an executive committee member of the ruling NPP party (National People’s Power), is running for mayor.

The NPP also announced that at least 25 per cent of party candidates in the May local elections will be women. However, while the number of women in local parliaments has increased from 2 to 23 per cent since the introduction of quotas in 2017, the increased number did not translate into increased political power.

If elected, Vraie Cally Balthazar would be the first centre-left mayor of Colombo since 1944. All, but two previous mayors were members of the centre-right United National Party (UNP).

In Sri Lanka, mayors are elected by the party that has gained the most seats in local councils. Responsibilities include social services, health, environment, urban planning and sanitation. Policing is the responsibility of the central government.

MIDDLE EAST / TURKEY

Kurdish mayor tells UN that women are a force for peace and stability in the Middle East

March 2025: The co-mayor from Diyarbakır (Turkey), attended the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (10-21 March 2025) to plead with member states to promote women’s political participation and leadership. Serra Bucak, one of the most outspoken women mayors in Turkey, delivered a passionate plea for gender-focused governance and international solidarity against political repression.

Serra Bucak, co-mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality of Diyarbakır (Amed), the de facto regional capital of the Kurdish region of Turkey, addressed the high-level women’s leadership summit, informing her audience on the fight of Kurdish women for equal representation and the ground-breaking model of male-female co-mayorship in Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Mayor Bucak condemned Turkey’s practice of removing elected mayors and replacing them with government-appointed trustees, a policy widely seen as targeting municipalities governed by the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party. “Appointing trustees is not just an attack on the political will of the people but also a direct assault on women’s gains in local governance,” she said. “Women’s struggles cannot be confined to national borders. We must expand international solidarity to safeguard their role in decision-making.”

“As co-mayor, I am not only a local administrator but also an activist,” she said. “Kurdish women have fought not just for their liberation, but for the freedom of all peoples. Making this struggle visible on a global scale is our responsibility.”

Following the settlement between the Kurdish authorities and the new government in neighbouring Syria, Serra Bucak stressed the need for women’s active involvement in peace processes, referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for increased female participation in conflict resolution and security policy. “Women must be at the heart of peace negotiations,” she said. “The Kurdish women’s movement is one of the most powerful forces for regional stability, advocating not only for Kurdish rights but for peace across the Middle East.”

Source: Medya News

On other pages: Turkish women mayors

TURKEY

Turkish women mayors promise to take their struggle for gender equality to the streets

March 2025: In November of last year, Turkish female mayors belonging to the centre-left, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) started a campaign to highlight the fact that many women in the country still suffered violence. Most cases of abuse against women are never reported, and those which are are rarely properly investigated. Starting on 8 March, International Women’s Day, the mayors will take their campaign to the streets. The organisers of the campaign ‘Our promise is not finished; together we will stop the violence’ (Gotina me neqediya: Em ê bi hev re tundiyê rawestînin).

In the coming months, the women mayors aim to raise awareness about gender inequality and to provide practical support to women by opening solidarity centres, shelters and anti-violence hotlines. The women have organised neighbourhood meetings and have also planned a poster campaign as well as social media activities.

In a press conference, the campaign organisers also pointed out the difficulties many women mayors and co-mayors faced when campaigning for women’s rights and accused the government of wanting to silence them. Serra Bucak, co-mayor of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality mentioned Neslihan Şedal, the female co-mayor of Van and Devrim Demir, co-mayor of Mardin, who have been replaced by government appointees.

Serra Bucak said that by removing mayors, it has been made almost impossible for municipalities to develop projects that strengthen gender equality and women’s rights. “Women’s solidarity centres have been rendered inactive or closed down, gender equality units in municipalities have been closed down, and efforts to combat violence have been eliminated.”

Despite these difficult circumstances, Bucak highlighted that the network of solidarity that was created by the campaign will “make women’s voices louder in local government, increase collective resistance and create a strong foundation for the construction of a non-violent life.”

“We will build a democratic, ecological and women’s libertarian life together, taking our strength from women’s struggle for freedom and equality, solidarity and determination,” Mayor Bucak promised her audience.

Sources: Medya News; ANF Media

On other pages: Turkish women mayors

TURKEY

Europe condemns the removal of democratically elected opposition mayors by Turkish authorities

February 2025: The removal of two Turkish opposition mayors by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sparked mass protests and international condemnation. The move has been described as a political coup against local democracy.

The ousting of the co-mayors of the City of Van in eastern Turkey Abdullah Zeydan and Neslihan Şedal follows a widely reported legal battle between Mayor Zeydan and the Turkish authorities. After winning the 31 March 2024 elections by a significant margin, his mandate was challenged by a local electoral board. However, Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK) reinstated him, making the dismissals of him and his co-mayor particularly contentious. Both mayors belong to the Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), which forms part of the opposition in Turkey’s parliament.

The dismissal triggered widespread protests in Van, with demonstrators accusing the government of undermining democratic governance in Kurdish-majority cities. According to eyewitnesses, police forces responded with violent interventions and mass arrests.

Adalet Kaya, DEM Party parliamentarian and President of the Rosa Women’s Organisation, condemned the repression, particularly against women. “It is no coincidence that this violence is directed most severely against Kurdish women and elected people. The Turkish government is attacking the rising freedom struggle led by women and the resistance line of the people. Because the government knows that the struggle growing under the leadership of Kurdish women is the hope of freedom not only for Kurdish people but of all the oppressed,” the parliamentarian wrote in a social media posting.

The Council of Europe has condemned Turkey's dismissal of elected mayors and warned of a dangerous democratic erosion. In a statement, the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities said that the recent dismissal of Abdullah Zeydan and Neslihan Şedal was a matter of grave concern. “It cannot be ignored. This newest move against the two mayors is the last link in a chain of deliberate and calculated delegitimisation. Sadly, it is also part of a wider and undemocratic pattern.”

“The specific practice of replacing democratically elected opposition party mayors with trustees is undermining the very nature of democracy,” the statement continues.

Since the March 2024 local elections, Turkish authorities have deposed nine mayors over terrorism-related allegations, including seven from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) and two from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Another CHP mayor was arrested on charges of manipulating public tenders. All 10 mayors have been removed from their positions and replaced by government-appointed trustees. The ten mayors now face judicial proceedings, defamation lawsuits and long prison sentences.

Sources: Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities; Medya News;