Turkey sacks three mayors in southeastern Kurdish region

ISTANBUL,— Turkey has removed three Kurdish mayors from office in Turkish Kurdistan (Bakur), the predominantly Kurdish southeast, citing “terrorism”-related charges, the Ministry of Interior announced on Monday.

The mayors of Mardin and Batman, as well as the district of Halfeti in Şanlıurfa province, have been replaced with government-appointed trustees.

This marks another chapter in the Turkish government’s ongoing efforts to remove local leaders with alleged ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The ousted mayors, all affiliated with the pro-Kurdish Democracy and Equality Movement (DEM) party, were elected in the March local elections—a significant victory for the opposition in various regions, including Turkey’s major cities.

Ahmet Türk, a well-known Kurdish politician, won the mayoral seat in Mardin, while Gülistan Sönük led Batman, and Mehmet Karayılan governed Halfeti.

According to the Interior Ministry, the three mayors face a range of charges related to “terrorism”, including alleged membership in an armed group and the promotion of PKK-related propaganda.

The PKK has waged an insurgency since 1984, advocating for greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish population, which numbers around 22.5 million in a country of 84 million. Decades of conflict between the PKK and Turkish state forces have resulted in over 40,000 deaths, involving both Turkish soldiers and Kurdish guerrillas.

Ahmet Türk, a long-standing figure in Kurdish politics who has previously faced similar dismissals, was sentenced to a 10-year prison term in May, accused of PKK membership in connection to protests held in 2014.

Those demonstrations were aimed at pressuring the Turkish government to support the besieged the Kurdish city of Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), then under threat from ISIS.

Following Türk’s recent removal, he took to social media platform X to voice his determination to continue advocating for democratic rights, peace, and freedom, vowing not to retreat in the face of what he calls an “usurpation of the people’s will.” Shortly after his dismissal, Mardin’s governor banned all protests in the city for 10 days.

These recent dismissals follow the arrest of another opposition mayor, Ahmet Özer of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, affiliated with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Özer, 64, was taken into custody last Wednesday on similar terrorism-related allegations, with a government trustee quickly appointed in his place.

Both the CHP and DEM parties have condemned the arrests and dismissals as politically motivated, characterizing them as attempts to weaken opposition voices and undermine democratic choices in Kurdish-populated regions.

In recent remarks, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced his support for outreach efforts to Turkey’s Kurdish population, calling it a “window of opportunity.”

Nevertheless, the government has a long history of removing elected Kurdish mayors, often replacing them with state-appointed officials, particularly in the southeastern provinces.

Just six months ago, the election authority stripped DEM’s elected mayor in the eastern city of Van of his position, appointing the losing candidate from Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in his place. That move sparked widespread protests, eventually leading to the reinstatement of the winning DEM candidate.

With a series of mayoral removals and arrests on so-called terrorism-related charges, tensions between Turkey’s government and the pro-Kurdish opposition are likely to deepen.

(With files from AFP | Agencies)