Turkey continues to oust Kurdish mayors, replace with trustees
Four mayors have been detained in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, the latest in ongoing efforts by the government to suppress Kurdish political participation in the country.
The Turkish authorities detained four more popularly elected mayors in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast today, part of an ongoing campaign against the Kurdish-friendly People's Democratic Party (HDP), the third largest party in the Turkish parliament. A fifth mayor was also fired but not detained.
The mayors were hauled away from their homes, stripped of office and replaced with government-appointed trustees, a pattern that has been repeated across the Kurdish-dominated region before and since the nationwide municipal elections in March 2019.
The mayors are accused of links to militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging an armed campaign for autonomy against the Turkish state. The group is classified as terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Two of the jailed mayors were elected in the cities of Igdir and Siirt, while the others were elected in the Siirt province districts of Baykan and Kurtalan.
