Turkey ousts three more pro-Kurdish mayors
The mayors of Turkey's Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van have been replaced by state appointees in the latest move against a major pro-Kurdish party.
State appointees replaced three recently elected mayors with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast Monday morning. Authorities cited alleged misuses of public office and ongoing terror-related investigations into the HDP officials as grounds for their suspension in a statement released by Turkey’s Interior Ministry.
According to the statement, the municipalities had “sought to become logistical centers for ensuring militant [resources], financial support and equipment for supporting terrorist activities.”
The move comes less than five months after the mayors were elected in the March 31 municipal elections and is the latest strike against the HDP, which some Turkish leaders with nationalist leanings and pro-state media outlets claim is a political front for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant insurgency that has waged war against the Turkish state since the 1980s.
The dismissed officials — Diyarbakir Mayor Selcuk Mizrakli, Mardin Mayor Ahmet Turk and Van Mayor Bedia Ozgokce Ertan — were confirmed as candidates by Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council ahead of the March elections. They won their seats with 63%, 56% and 53% of the vote, respectively, but were dismissed Monday morning. The ongoing investigations include charges of making propaganda for a terrorist organization and being a member of an armed terrorist organization.
