Turkey sacks Kurdish mayor of Van

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s Interior Ministry on Saturday dismissed the Kurdish mayor of Van, Abdullah Zeydan, and replaced him with a trustee after he was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail on terror-related charges.

A court in Diyarbakir (Amed) convicted Zeydan on Tuesday for “aiding the terrorist organization and engaging in its propaganda.” 

As expected, the Interior Ministry said in a statement early Saturday morning that based on the court ruling they had temporarily removed Zeydan from his post and replaced him with a state-affiliated administrator or trustee.

"Shameless thieves have usurped the will of the people of Van. The coup-makers will lose, the people will win," Zeydan said on X following his dismissal. 

Supporters of the Van mayor have taken to the streets since Tuesday to condemn the court decision, which the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) criticized as “unlawful.” 

Protesters also staged a sit-in in front of the municipality building to prevent security forces from removing the mayor. The DEM Party on Saturday condemned the use of tear gas and plastic bullets by police to disperse supporters standing vigil.

"We condemn the raid on our municipality and the brutal attacks on the people of Van defending their municipality," the DEM Party said on X on Saturday.

"Arresting children and the elderly is unacceptable. We will not bow to this lawlessness!" it added.

Zeydan’s tenure has been fraught with uncertainty since his victory in Turkey’s local elections last March, when he secured over 55 percent of the votes for the DEM Party, defeating the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate. 

His victory was challenged in a local court responding to a last-minute request by the Justice Ministry. As a result, the mayorship was handed to the AKP runner-up. This sparked protests in the Kurdish-majority southeast and drew widespread criticism from both AKP allies and opposition parties.

The DEM Party filed an appeal with the election board to challenge the removal of Zeydan, which was accepted, leading to his reinstatement as mayor. 

Since 2016, dozens of Kurdish mayors have been dismissed and sentenced on terrorism-related charges for alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara has designated a terrorist organization. The dismissed mayors are replaced with state-appointed trustees.

Updated at 11:25 am