Following the Turkish government’s decision to appoint trustees to replace elected mayors in Kurdish-majority municipalities, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel has pledged his solidarity with Ahmet Türk, the dismissed mayor of Mardin.
“Ahmet Türk is a dove of peace and a wise man. I will stand by him,” Özel stated during a newspaper interview on Monday.
Özel was referring to the Interior Ministry’s appointment of unelected trustees to take over the administration of the municipalities of Mardin, Batman, Halfeti and Esenyurt. The removed mayors were all representatives of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, who had won these local elections.
“We are at the end of the line. In democracies, words should never fail,” Özel said, condemning the government’s “arrogant” seizure of municipalities that the ruling coalition had failed to win at the ballot box.
Özel announced that he would travel to Mardin “on the first flight” to meet with Türk, a veteran Kurdish politician who has faced similar dismissals in the past. Türk has been described as a “dove of peace” and a “wise man” by the CHP leader.
“They can do anything as long as they have the ‘golden belt’ around their waists. But the ‘golden belt’ changed hands on 31 March [local elections]. They [the ruling Justice and Development Party] are no longer the first party,” Özel said, referring to recent electoral gains by his own party.
Özel accused the government of resorting to undemocratic measures to “alter the flow” after the CHP’s success in the presidential and parliamentary elections. He vowed to continue the “struggle” against the “arrogant mentality” that disregards the will of the electorate.
Özel, Ahmet Türk, and DEM Party co-chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları are expected to hold a joint press conference later today as the opposition unites in condemning the trustee appointments.
