Hakkari Mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has been dismissed from his post following his apprehension as part of an investigation into his alleged ties with the PKK terrorist organization.
The Hakkari Municipality in southeastern Turkey was raided by police, leading to the detention of co-mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış and the subsequent appointment of a government-appointed trustee.
According to the Anadolu Agency, a detention warrant was issued for co-mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış as part of an investigation conducted by the Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Akış, who was in the province of Van at the time, was detained by security forces and will be taken to Hakkari for the procedures.
Pro-Kurdish mayors being arrested on terrorism charges and replaced by government-appointed trustees is nothing new in Turkey. After the 2019 local elections in Turkey, controversy ensued as trustees were appointed to replace mayors of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) – later renamed DEM Party – in various municipalities in the southeast. Overall, HDP was stripped of 48 out of the 65 municipalities they won in the 2019 local elections.
DEM Party co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan reacted on their social media accounts.
Bakırhan said: “Disregarding the will of the people, the AKP-MHP resorted to unlawful detention against the legitimate and democratic representatives of the people through the judiciary and police under its command. The detention of our Hakkari Municipality co-mayor is a dark and dirty lawlessness. We reject this coup, trustee and sworn anti-Kurdish mentality. We never impose our will on anyone. We say enough is enough.”
It is conceivable that all DEM mayors in the Kurdish majority region will be removed from their posts once again, to be replaced by government appointed civil servants, or an AKP or Huda Par member of the city assembly.
The sacking of DEM mayors strengthens the hand of Kurdish rights hardliners who claim no negotiations with AKP is possible to reach political parity with majority Turks. It is very difficult to conceive DEM backing an AKP-MHP sponsored porpoise to write a new constitution. The move also kills any chances of Erdogan reclaim the Kurdish vote.
Turkish press, PA Turkey Staff
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