Turkey
Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) march in Istanbul, October 30, 2016. File photo: Emrah Gurel / AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Three more pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) mayors in eastern and south-eastern Turkey were removed from their posts for alleged “terrorist links” on Monday evening, hours after five others were detained, according to state media.
Mayors Hikmet Tasdemir of Guroymak in Bitlis, Hasan Safa of Halfeli in Igdir, and Serhat Cicek of Gokcebag in Siirt were removed from their posts, Hurriyet Daily News reports, citing a statement from the interior ministry.
It is unclear whether they have also been detained.
District Governor Muhammet Furkan Sancaktutar was appointed Deputy Mayor of Guroymak to assume Tasdemir’s responsibilities.
The mayors are all suspected of being members of an armed terror group, according to the ministry.
Earlier on Monday, Batman Mayor Mehmet Demir, Diyarbakir’s Silvan District Mayor Naside Toprak, Ergani District Mayor Ahmet Kaya, Lice Mayor Tarık Mercan and Egil District Mayor Mustafa Akkul were taken into custody, according to the state-owned Daily Sabah.
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 Diyarbakir have been delegated to appointees, says the newspaper Cumhuriyet.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse the HDP of fostering ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated by Turkey and its Western allies as a terrorist organization. The HDP denies affiliation with the PKK.
The PKK is an armed opposition group which has fought a decades-long war with the Turkish state for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey.
A ceasefire brokered by the HDP between the PKK and the Turkish state came into effect in 2013 during the short-lived peace process, which lasted until July 2015 when the talks collapsed.
Following the failed coup of 2016, Erdogan launched a crackdown on oppositionists.
HDP co-leader Mithat Sancar told reporters at a press conference on Monday: “Erdogan’s government is opportunistic; it is trying to use the corona epidemic as an opportunity to consolidate its power. Neither the people of this country nor humanity as a whole will forget how the AKP is now trying to take advantage of this global threat.”
Thirty-nine HDP mayors have been removed from their post since the March 2019 provincial 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 at any time, 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 the provincial elections. In other regions of the country, HDP backed the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
This strategy is credited with contributing to the success of CHP in these areas, especially in Istanbul, home to millions of Kurds.
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