In an all-too-familiar action, Turkey’s interior ministry removed three democratically elected co-mayors from three Kurdish-majority cities — Mardin (Mêrdîn), Batman (Elîh) and Halfeti (Xelfêtî) — and replaced them with state-appointed trustees.
The interior ministry’s excuse for the removals was that the three allegedly have links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
A similar move happened after the 2019 local elections, when six Kurdish mayors were replaced because their civil rights were deemed to have been revoked. Forty-eight of the remaining 59 pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) mayors were later removed and replaced by government-appointed trustees, with many of the deposed mayors being imprisoned or forced into exile.
After the 2014 local elections, 97 out of 102 HDP mayors elected were removed and replaced by trustees.
The latest three Kurdish mayors to be removed were from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), which replaced the HDP after it was banned. They were elected with clear majorities on March 31.
The DEM leadership condemned this decision as “a blow to the will of the people”.
According to MedyaNews, residents who had voted in the ousted mayors gathered in front of municipal buildings and attempted to break through police barricades to enter the premises.
The police responded violently, firing tear gas and reportedly using physical force against demonstrators.
Ahmet Türk, Mardin’s co-mayor who was sacked on November 4, urged citizens to gather outside the city’s municipal building to protest against what he described as a “seizure of the people’s will”.
This is the third time that Türk has been removed from his position as mayor on similar charges, underlining the historical pattern of such actions in the region.
Türk told the protesting residents: “We are facing an administration that has not only seized our mandate but is also trying to suppress democratic rights.”
Demonstrators who attempted to reach the municipal building in Mardin were confronted with heavy police presence and barricades. Clashes were reported with police firing tear gas and making arrests. Meanwhile, the government cited security concerns and links to banned organisations as justification for the trusteeship, a charge that Türk rejected as politically motivated and lacking in judicial finality.
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In Batman, DEM co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları told a rally: “This is not just an administrative move, it is a judicial coup.”
She compared the government’s use of security forces and legal mechanisms to stifle political dissent to the repressive tactics of former Turkish military coup regimes.
“They couldn’t defeat us politically, so they are resorting to these undemocratic methods to ensure their grip on power.”
Hatimoğulları added that: “Even with countless trustees, the people returned to the polls and elected their leaders. This shows that despite the repression, the spirit of resistance is alive.”
DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan, said in reference to recent political gestures from the right in the Turkish parliament for a resumption of peace talks: “Just a few weeks ago we were extending our hands for dialogue, but behind the scenes they were planning this attack on our autonomy. This is not just an attack on us; it’s an affront to everyone who values democracy in this country.”