Large-scale marches began on Wednesday morning in Van (Wan), Turkey, on the second day of unrest following the controversial appointment of a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate to replace the elected Kurdish mayor of the city, Abdullah Zeydan.
Major street demonstrations against what the Kurdish community deem an ‘electoral coup’ by the ruling AKP have continued since Tuesday. Protest action rages despite a 15-day ban on demonstrations in the city since imposed by the Van governorate.
Demonstrations, sparking in Van, quickly spread to several other Kurdish-majority cities in the south and south-east of Turkey including Hakkari (Colemerg), Batman (ÊLIH), Diyarbakır (Amed), Siirt (Sert) and Adana, where thousands took to the streets to support Zeydan, resulting in widespread bans on protests, events, marches, sit-ins and restricted movement.
Riot police used gas bombs, sound bombs, plastic bullets and water cannons against the demonstrators, who responded with stones and fireworks.
In Hakkari’s central district, tensions escalated when AKP supporters allegedly fired shots in the air, prompting protesters to respond with projectiles. The police intervened, using water cannons and tear gas, leading to continued unrest.
Prior to the local elections, the Supreme Election Board (YSK) had confirmed Zeydan’s eligibility to run with the completion of all necessary legal procedure. Nevertheless, a last-minute objection by the Ministry of Justice led to a legal challenge that resulted in the reversal of a previous ruling to restore his civil rights, including the right to stand for election.
The controversial appointment of the AKP candidate over Zeydan, who won a landslide victory for mayorship in the local elections, has fuelled heightened anger within the Kurdish community. Demanding civil representation and democracy, the rapid escalation of protest action reflects long-standing tensions stemming from the Turkish government’s crackdown on the Kurdish political movement.
Since the collapse of peace talks between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish government, the state has routinely appointed unelected trustees in Kurdish-majority municipalities, accompanied by the negation of elected Kurdish representatives. In the March 2019 local elections, the pro-Kurdish HDP won the mayoralty in 65 municipalities, but trustee appointments and the arrest of Kurdish mayors have since continued, exacerbating the grievances of the Kurdish community.