Türkiye: Government dismisses three mayors from pro-Kurdish party

Turkish The government dismissed three mayors affiliated with the programKurd The People’s Equality and Democracy Party (Dem) is pushing terrorism-related charges.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that the mayors in Mardin, Batman and Halfeti were replaced by trustees appointed by the state.

The report cited ongoing legal proceedings against the trio, although the suspended officials had not been detained as of Monday morning.

All three are members of the Dem party, which has 57 seats in parliament and includes the better-known Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Following local elections in March, anti-government candidates achieved victory in many districts and cities of Turkey, including Istanbul.

Ahmet Türk was elected as the Mayor of Mardin, Gülistan Sonuk was elected as the head of Batman, and Mehmet Karayılan was elected as the head of Halfeti.

Turk, who was replaced by the Governor of Mardin, promised to continue his political struggle. In his message published on X (formerly Twitter), he said, “We will not retreat from the struggle for democracy, peace and freedom. We will not allow the will of the people to be usurped!”

The dismissal of pro-Kurdish mayors is not unprecedented; Many of them have been dismissed on similar charges in the past, mostly due to their alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

The group is designated a terrorist group by both Türkiye and its western allies, but Ankara frequently accuses its European allies of turning a blind eye to the organization and its supporters.

Protest ban

After the mayors were dismissed, Mardin Governorship banned demonstrations in the city for 10 days.

The dismissals took place a few days after another opposition mayor, Ahmet Özer, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was arrested in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district for alleged links to the PKK.

Özer, 64, was detained on Wednesday and the government quickly appointed a trustee in his place.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party demands meeting with PKK leader Öcalan ahead of new talks

Read more ”

Both CHP and Dem criticized the government for Özer’s arrest and said that it was a politically motivated move.

Democratic officials described the move as a “political coup”, while both parties condemned the government’s actions as an attack on democracy.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel also described Özer’s arrest as a “coup”, while Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu called for a meeting of mayors across the country.

“I’m warning you. In his statement, Özel said, “Whatever is necessary will be done to fight this evil.”

The wave of dismissals came after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement in which he expressed his strong support for Erdoğan. Efforts of a political ally Describing the initiative as a “window of opportunity” to engage with the Kurdish community in Turkey.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s offer to those in prison PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was seen as an attempt to end the decades-long conflict.

However, one day after Bahçeli’s statements, PKK was attacked Five people died and 22 people were injured in an attack by a Turkish arms company in Ankara.