Turkey’s Interior Ministry has removed Kağızman (Qaxizman) Municipality’s elected co-mayors and replaced them with a state-appointed trustee, triggering outrage among Kurdish politicians. The decision follows a court’s ruling on 20 February sentencing Co-Mayor Mehmet Alkan to six years and three months in prison for alleged membership in an outlawed organisation.
In response, Alkan and his fellow Co-Mayor Güner Hatay began a sit-in protest at the municipality building, but police forcibly removed them in a late-night operation. “Hundreds of officers raided the building at around 2:30 am,” Alkan told reporters. “We resisted peacefully, but they handed us the Interior Ministry’s decision. We refused to sign it, calling it an unlawful seizure. We left the building with applause, ululations, and slogans.”
Alkan condemned the government’s move as part of a broader pattern of removing elected Kurdish officials. “This is a long-standing practice. They create their own laws to justify it,” he said. “The current government cannot win certain municipalities through legitimate means, so they take them by force. But our struggle is not confined to a municipal building. We have been fighting for 40 years, and we will continue, wherever we are, to serve our people.”
Hatay also criticised the move, saying they had worked tirelessly to address the town’s infrastructure problems since taking office. “We identified our community’s chronic issues and took immediate action. Despite our progress, our municipality has now been unlawfully seized,” she said.
The dismissal of elected Kurdish mayors and their replacement with state-appointed trustees has been a contentious issue in Turkey. Pro-Kurdish politicians argue that it undermines democracy and disregards the will of the voters. “The Kurdish people have struggled for years,” Hatay said. “We are part of that struggle, and we will not stop until democracy and peace prevail.”
