DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — At a disaster center in the heart of southeast Turkey, staff rush about answering phones, furiously tapping messages and calling out questions to colleagues. But beneath the frenetic activity, the country’s “Kurdish question” casts a shadow even in times of catastrophe. 

The crisis office in Diyarbakir, the de facto capital of Turkey’s Kurds, is part of the aid operation organized by the People's Democratic Party (HDP) following the Feb. 6 earthquake. The party has its roots in the Kurdish community, from which it still draws most of its support. 

However, the HDP relief campaign was hampered by one important factor: Despite winning the 2019 local elections in Diyarbakir and 65 other city, town and district councils across the southeast, it no longer controls the municipalities and their resources. 

Five months after 63% of voters elected the HDP’s Diyarbakir mayoral candidate Adnan Selcuk Mizrakli into office, he was suspended by the government. Another two months later and he was in prison, where he remains, having been convicted of membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.