A senior police officer in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority city of Siirt refused to permit Sabahat Erdogan Sarıtaş, a member of parliament for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), entry to a courthouse. Blocking her way, Officer Necmettin Öztürk claimed the elected MP was not a representative of the people.
Observers suggest the incident demonstrates how the government’s persecution of Kurdish political figures has taken its toll on the file and rank of Turkish police officers, emboldening Öztürk to defy MP Sarıtaş her basic rights.
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party took a strong lead in Siirt’s polls on 31 March, winning 50:37 against the Justice and Development Party (AKP). The country’s ruling AK Party disputed the city’s vote count, filing an official objection.
The incident took place when MP Sabahat Erdogan Sarıtaş sought information on the case from a Siirt courthouse last week. On arrival, when she found the entrance to the building blocked by a group of police officers.
Sarıtaş directly addressed the senior officer: “Will you make way? Mind the distance. You are committing an offence. These are not your personal police officers, they are the police officers of the state.”
Ozturk replied: “Don’t shake your finger at me. I will not make way. And don’t you dare come any closer to police officers. Stay away. You are not a deputy of the people. For me, you are not worth talking to.”
Saritas was elected MP last May when the DEM Party won the parliamentary election in the province of Siirt.
The previous local election in 2019 was won by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the DEM Party’s predecessor, but the then-elected mayor, Berivan Helen Işık, was removed by the Turkish interior ministry after a year in post and replaced with a state-appointed official. Işık was held under house arrest for more than 15 months, uninformed of the charges held against her.
