Turkey’s DEM Party challenges removal of its mayor in court

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has filed a petition at the Ankara Administrative Court requesting a stay in the removal of its elected mayor in a southeastern province from office, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.

The interior ministry announced on June 3 the removal of former Hakkari co-mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış of the DEM Party from office due to an ongoing investigation and a separate trial on terrorism-linked charges. He was subsequently replaced by Hakkari Governor Ali Çelik. The ministry’s move attracted widespread criticism and protests for being “anti-democratic” and “hijacking” the will of the Kurdish people.

Akış, the first mayor ousted from office since the March 31 local elections when the DEM Party won a dozen provincial municipalities in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, was also handed down a prison sentence of 19 years, six months at the 61^st hearing of his trial on June 5 and sent to prison.

The petition was filed by the party’s human rights commission on Thursday in which the government was criticized for its practice of appointment of trustees to replace democratically elected mayors.

The DEM Party said this practice aims to “suppress” their party and its supporters’ will to stand for elections and vote.

The party asked the court to issue a stay on the removal of its mayor, describing the removal a violation of the constitution.

Widespread protests took place in Hakkari and other parts of the country as well as in parliament by DEM Party lawmakers against the removal of the mayor of Hakkari, who had been elected with 48.9 percent of the vote in the March 31 election.

The DEM Party claims that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government is taking “political revenge” by removing its mayor due to its election failure in the province.

Both the AKP and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), accuse the DEM Party and its predecessors of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

The parties deny any links to the outlawed group.

Turkey became acquainted with the removal of democratically elected Kurdish mayors from office on terrorism accusations after the local elections of 2016 and 2019, but there were hopes that the government would not resort to such a step this time, given the significant public support afforded DEM Party mayors in the country’s southeast in the local elections.

As a result, the removal of Akış came as a disappointment to many, leading to protests and calls on the government from various segments of society to end the controversial practice and respect the will of the Kurdish people.

In the earlier appointment of trustees, the Turkish government claimed the removal of the Kurdish mayors was a counterterrorism measure and that the elected mayors were funneling municipal funds to the PKK.

The mayors denied the accusations and described them as politically motivated.