A rare handover incident has taken place in Ardeşen district of Northern Rize Province, where the mayor of AK Party-administered municipality temporarily transferred his seat to a municipal council member from Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP).

Hakan Gültekin, the AK Party mayor of Ardeşen, a small town along the Black Sea coast, handed over his seat to Muharrem Yerebakan in an unprecedented move in the history of Turkish politics. It was reported that the mayor had to go out of town
for a while and chose the CHP council member to temporarily take his seat.

"I have never seen or heard of an opposition party being offered to take the seat" said Yerebakan, who noted that it was the first time such an incident had taken place in Turkey. He praised mayor Gültekin for displaying such exemplary and democratic behavior, and added that other municipalities should look up to the incident.

Yerebakan also praised the AK Party mayor for having a transparent approach and having trust in council members. "We fully trust him and he trusts us back, which is what the public expects from us" said Yerebakan, who underlined that they are ready to join hands to serve the people regardless of political or ideological differences.

Despite political rivalry between the ruling AK Party and the main opposition, -especially during parliamentary sessions where tensions rise - such courteous incidents emphasize the significance of tolerance in Turkish politics.

Recently, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, CHP chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and President Erdoğan attended a Holy Birth Week celebration organized by the Directorate of Religious Affairs. Here, as Mehmet Görmez, the head of Religious Affairs Directorate was handing a rose to Davutoğlu, the PM pointed at Kılıçdaroğlu for Görmez to hand it to the opposition leader first. Kılıçdaroğlu also did the same thing and pointed at Davutoğlu as Görmez approached him, putting smiles on the faces of many.