Turkey to investigate 37 municipalities run by pro-Kurdish party

Turkey is preparing to investigate 37 municipalities controlled by the country’s pro-Kurdish party over alleged ties to terrorism, three sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.

Earlier this month, the Turkish government dismissed three mayors affiliated with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (Dem), citing terrorism-related investigations.

The mayors from Mardin, Batman and Halfeti were replaced by state-appointed trustees.

Additionally, the government removed Ahmet Ozer, the mayor of Istanbul district Esenyurt, who is affiliated with the main opposition party. Ozer’s Republican People's Party (CHP) had allied with Dem in order to win the district.

“The police are currently reviewing dozens of Dem-controlled municipalities to determine if there is sufficient evidence to launch formal investigations,” one source familiar told MEE.

If formal investigations are launched, the government may legally unseat all 37 mayors and replace them with state-appointed temporary administrators.

Dem is currently Turkey’s third-largest political party, holding 57 seats in parliament. Its mayoral candidates won elections in 10 cities, 58 provincial districts and seven counties.

'Bahceli envisions Mardin Mayor Ahmet Turk as a key figure who could bridge Ocalan with the Dem Party'

- Source

The Turkish government generally views Dem as the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group that has waged a violent insurgency against the state since the 1980s, initially for independence and later for greater cultural autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish population. Dem denies any links to the PKK.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled in a speech on Sunday that his government will continue to target mayors allegedly connected to terrorist groups, while maintaining that legal avenues for political participation remain open.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the terrorist organisation's establishment of extortion mechanisms through municipal power,” Erdogan said following a cabinet meeting.

“We will absolutely not allow this country or our cities to endure a scenario where separatist organisation commissars slap mayors in the basements of municipal buildings, or where municipal tools and equipment are misused for digging trenches instead of providing public services.”

Dem dismissals surprise Erdogan ally

Erdogan’s decision to dismiss the mayors earlier this month reportedly surprised key ally, Devlet Bahceli, the chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Last month, Bahceli shocked the nation when he suggested that PKK’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, should be invited to speak in parliament to call for the aremd group to disband.

This proposal led to a meeting between Ocalan and his nephew, the first in 44 months, raising hopes for renewed peace talks with the government.

While Bahceli endorsed the government’s decision to remove the mayors in a speech last week, he also expressed criticism, stating that Mardin's mayor, Ahmet Turk, should have been spared.

Further mayoral dismissals could exacerbate tensions between Erdogan and Bahceli, who has previously praised Turk as a respectable politician.

'Successive Erdogan governments have employed this tactic before, abusing their powers and smearing mayors with baseless terrorism charges'

- Hugh Williamson, Human Rights Watch

“Bahceli envisions Turk as a key figure who could bridge Ocalan with the Dem Party,” a separate source told MEE. “He believes Turk, alongside Ocalan, could help distance Dem from the PKK leadership in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains.”

The government’s decision to sack mayors has already drawn criticism from rights groups, who argue that the move disregards the votes of over half a million Turkish citizens in the March local elections.

“Denying hundreds of thousands of voters their chosen local government representatives and replacing them with the government’s own appointees not only undermines the democratic process but violates the right to free and fair elections,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Successive Erdogan governments have employed this tactic before, abusing their powers and smearing mayors with baseless terrorism charges.”

Previous Erdogan administrations removed elected mayors and took over municipalities in 2016 and 2019, particularly in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast.

During the 2016-2017 crackdown on Kurdish opposition politicians - the largest of its kind - many mayors were removed and jailed, including Mardin's Turk. Trustees were appointed to manage 94 municipalities.

In August 2019, following the 31 March local elections of that year, the government again replaced mayors with trustees in 48 out of the 65 municipalities won by Dem's predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).