Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Kadir Topbaş spoke during a referendum event organised by AKP Büyükçekmece district organisation today.

Expressing a desire for 'autonomy' which was made a basis for imprisonment when was voiced by HDP and DBP officials, Topbaş said the followings;

"As the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul, we ask for the expansion of our authorities. We have even demanded a law specific to Istanbul in order for us to have more functions. The city of Istanbul is being governed with the same law pertaining to Malatya, Denizli and Diyarbakır, but it does not work this way. I suggest that Istanbul attains self-governance and self-determination without external interventions. Is this a wrong idea?"