Turkish Kurdish MP calls on Nechirvan Barzani to address mayor removals

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A prominent Kurdish politician in Turkey said that Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani should give his opinion on the removal of Kurdish mayors by the state in Turkey.
 
Leyla Guven, a lawmaker in the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), said Kurds need to be united and that Barzani should thus weigh in on their suffering in Turkey.

“We also expect Mr Nechirvan Barzani to express his position [on the issue] because whatever sufferings we Kurds have experienced in the past was due to the lack of alliance and unity," Guven told journalists yesterday during one of the party’s demonstrations in Diyarbakir province against the sacking of the mayors.

 

On August 19, Turkey removed the mayors of the predominantly Kurdish cities Diyarbakir, Van and Mardin due to the mayors’ alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - a militant group that has clashed with the Turkish state over Kurdish cultural and political rights in Turkey for decades.

 

Guven ended her 200-day hunger strike for better prison conditions for its jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan in late May following a letter from the leader. 

Barzani is known for his close ties with Turkey. He was prime minister when both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Turkey signed a 50-year oil contract, which has acted as a guarantor of their relations. 

Barzani also played a key role in the short-lived peace process between Turkish state and the PKK in 2013. 
 
Barzani has not commented on the removal of the mayors so far.

Selcuk Mizrakli, the removed mayor of Diyarbakir, said in a video message in English Thursday that their suspension is “illegal” and called on the international community to act.