Five Kurdish mayors detained in Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey detained five pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) mayors early Monday morning after dismissing them from their posts.

Batman Mayor Mehmet Demir, Diyarbakır’s Silvan District Mayor Naşide Toprak, Ergani District Mayor Ahmet Kaya, Lice Mayor Tarık Mercan and Eğil District Mayor Mustafa Akkul were taken into custody, according to state media outlet the Daily Sabah, in a continued crackdown on the HDP.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse the HDP of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated by Turkey as a terrorist organization. The HDP denies affiliation with the PKK.

HDP party co-leader Mithat Sancar told reporters that security forces stormed municipality buildings early Monday morning. 

"We reject with hatred this vile attempt that does not shy away from showing enmity against Kurds even in these difficult days when the whole world is battling an epidemic," Sancar told Reuters.

The responsibilities of the mayors of the eastern province of Batman, as well as the Silvan, Lice and Ergani districts in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır have been delegated to appointees, says the newspaper Cumhuriyet.

Police have detained 16 people in front of Batman city hall protesting the decision to remove the mayor, according to Cumhuriyet. 

Founded in 2012, the HDP has stood in opposition to the government of Erdogan. 

Thirty-six HDP mayors have been removed from their post since last year’s local elections and thousands of its members and supporters have been arrested. 

Judicial proceedings against the HDP, “will be very intense,” Erdogan told reporters in February, according to state media outlet Anadolu Agency. “New files may arrive anytime, because everything is in plain sight. Everything they do constitutes a crime,” he added.

The first removal of the newly-elected HDP mayors came on August 19 2019, when the mayors of major cities  Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van were ousted. HDP candidates did well in Kurdish-majority areas of Turkey’s southeast. In other regions of the country, HDP supported the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidates. This strategy is credited with contributing to the success of CHP in these areas, especially in Istanbul, home to millions of Kurds.