A Turkish court on Thursday ordered the detention of Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). This decision, based on allegations linking Ozer to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has resulted in the replacement of Ozer by an Istanbul deputy governor as administrator. Ozer, on the other hand, categorically denies these accusations, while the CHP asserts that the charges are a plot to link the party to PKK terror organization. Ozer has been arrested on pending terrorism charges on Friday.
The accusations against Ozer come just days after the PKK claimed responsibility for an attack on Turkish defense company TUSAS in Ankara, which left five people dead. As tensions mount, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel condemned the arrest, calling it politically motivated and aimed at undermining democratic processes. “We will undoubtedly… defeat this vile mind that does not recognize the nation and does not respect the people’s choices, and will thwart this disgusting plan,” Ozel said in a social media post.
In response, the CHP’s central executive committee had held a meeting Thursday at CHP Esenyurt headquarters.
With experts agreeing that the arrest of Ozer is a test of will for CHP, which could see its favorite presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu being sacked, too. CHP wowed to limit cooperation with AKP-MHP in the parliament and demanded early elections.
Hundreds gathered Thursday in Istanbul to protest the arrest and removal from office of a mayor from Turkey’s main opposition party for his alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group.
The mayor’s arrest comes as Turkey is debating a tentative peace process to end a 40-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.
Demonstrators filled a square in Esenyurt after the government banned a rally outside the municipality building. Some carried banners that read: “(We want) an elected mayor not an appointed mayor” and called for the resignation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
“In our view, this (government), which acts against the law and violates the constitution, has carried out a political coup. We will never accept it,” said Tulay Hatimogullari, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, whose supporters joined the rally in a show of solidarity.
Ozer, 64, is a former academic originally from Van in eastern Turkey. He was elected mayor of Esenyurt, a western suburb in Istanbul’s European side, in March local elections.
He is a sociology professor and a former adviser to Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a potential future presidential challenger to Erdogan who faces his own legal headwinds and has appealed a prison sentence and political ban.
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