Turkey’s Interior Ministry fired three elected mayors from the ranks of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and detained more than 400 people on terrorism charges on Monday.
The ministry removed mayors of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van for alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US and has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s southeast for more than three decades.
The three cities have a total population of about 3.7 million people and the mayors assumed the posts following the local elections held on March 31.
All three mayors were elected with a majority of votes in the March 31 election. Diyarbakır mayor Adnan Selcuk Mızraklı got 63 percent of the provincial vote, while Mardin mayor Ahmet Türk had 56 percent and Van mayor Bedia Özgökçe Ertan received 54 percent popular support.
The city’s governors were appointed as acting mayors or trustees as Diyarbakır governor Hasan Basri Güzeloğlu replaced Mızraklı, Mardin mayor Mustafa Yaman replaced Türk and Van governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez replaced Ertan.
Police teams conducted raids in the municipality buildings of the three cities in the early hours of Monday and launched extensive searches in the buildings.
In its statement, the ministry claimed that the removed mayors were using the resources of the municipality for the benefit of the PKK and its umbrella organization, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned before local elections that his government would not hesitate to replace mayors from the HDP party if they are deemed to be linked to the PKK. The HDP has faced a broad crackdown since it won enough votes to enter parliament in 2015. Since then, the government has jailed hundreds of Kurdish politicians and seized about 100 municipalities in the southeast.
In a statement, HDP co-chairperson Sezai Temelli said his party will not give up from using democratic means and continue their fight for democracy.
“It is time to take side with democracy and democratic politics. It is time to stand behind the will of the nation. Come and let’s stand side by side against this ignoble way of doing politics,” he said.
The clampdown plays well with the nationalists even as the government is facing accusations from critics of ignoring election results in which the HDP swept back to power in municipalities across the southeast. HDP supporters have also helped Turkey’s main opposition party to win mayoral races in İstanbul and Ankara, dealing a blow to Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
İstanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu said in a message from his Twitter account on Monday that removal of the three mayors cannot be explained within the principles of democracy.
“Neglecting the will of the will is unacceptable,” he said.
“All political parties and society should react to this coup against the will of the people,” Garo Paylan, an HDP lawmaker, said on Twitter. “If you remain silent, then the next in line could be Ankara and İstanbul.”
In the meantime, the leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally and election partner of Erdoğan, Devlet Bahçeli called Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Monday to congratulate him on the ministry’s decision to remove the three elected mayors, saying that his party has full support for the government in its fight against terrorism.
The post Turkish gov’t fires 3 Kurdish mayors, detains hundreds on terrorism charges appeared first on Turkish Minute.
from Turkish Minute https://www.turkishminute.com/2019/08/19/turkish-govt-fires-3-kurdish-mayors-detains-hundreds-on-terrorism-charges/
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