A question was raised in the Norwegian Parliament on 5 November over the Turkish state’s dismissal of elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, and their replacement with state appointees.
Hege Bae Nyholt of the Norwegian Red (Rødt) Party asked whether the Norwegian Parliament intended “to protest against the undermining of democracy in the Kurdish areas by removing legally elected mayors and replacing them with state trustees?”
Bae Nyholt travelled to southeast Turkey in March 2024 to act as an election observer in Mardin (Merdîn) province. She was one of many international observers invited by the DEM Party to monitor electoral fraud and voter intimidation.
Espen Barth Eide, who is Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Labour Party/Centre Party coalition, replied, by asserting that: “respect for the fundamental rights of all people is at the heart of the government’s international engagement. The pressure on democracy and human rights is greater than it has been for a very long time. This is also happening in Europe. Although the vast majority of countries on our continent are democracies, almost half of the democracies in Europe are experiencing a decline. This is serious, and something both I and the entire government are very concerned about.”
He continued, by stating that the Norwegian government was: “clear that we will work against the restriction of democracy and human rights and fight against violations of international law and human rights wherever they may take place, with particular emphasis on freedom of expression, religion and assembly. We will work to strengthen the position of democracy in the world by supporting independent courts, free media, trade unions and other civil society.”
Barth Eide raised the possibility of action against the Turkish state within the Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a member. “If it turns out that Turkey has exceeded the member states’ obligations in the Council of Europe, or acted in violation of the OSCE [the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe] principles, the Government will consider how the matter can be raised, for example in Strasbourg or Vienna,” he said.
The dissent shown in the Norwegian Parliament is part of a growing display of condemnation of the trustee policy by the European parliamentary left and labour movement. Prominent European political bodies, including Germany’s Greens, the Socialist Group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and LAB, a Basque trade union, have issued statements condemning the removal of mayors as undemocratic.
The Turkish state has now deposed elected representatives in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul, and in Mardin, Batman (Elîh) and Halfeti (Xelfêtî) in southeast Turkey. The move has provoked widespread protests, as well as condemnation by the DEM Party, and a recent criticism by Özgür Özel, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
