Turkey’s highest electoral authority on 3rd April had reversed a decision that sparked intense political friction.
It restored the right of a newly elected mayor Abdullah Zeydan hailing from a pro-Kurdish party to hold office.
It overturned an earlier decision by a lower body of the electoral authority that had sparked widespread protests and led to 30+ arrests in the southern border with the Kurdish Majority areas mainly opposing this decision as this is what strips away the right of the kurdish minority.
The reversal was another boost for Turkey’s opposition, strengthening thier place against the incumbent party. Following Sunday’s local elections, which dealt a blow to the incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, after their wins last year in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
The main opposition party retained its hold of Istanbul and the capital of Ankara and made significant gains elsewhere, while a pro-Kurdish party won several municipalities in Turkey’s mainly-Kurdish regions.
Crushed Rights?
On Tuesday, a regional election authority revoked the mandate of Abdullah Zeydan, a politician from the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, who had won the race for mayor in the eastern city of Van and replaced him by his runner-up, a candidate from Erdogan’s ruling party.
The authority cited a last-minute court decision that ruled that Zeydan, who spent time in prison, was not qualified to run for office. Zeydan had won 55% of the votes in Sunday’s balloting while Abdulahat Arvas, of Erdogan’s AKP, garnered 27%.
Öncelikle iradesine görkemli bir şekilde sahip çıkan onurlu halkımıza, Eş genel başkanlarımıza,Leyla Zana, Ahmet Türk, Başak Demirtaş, Vekillerimiz ve tüm partili yoldaşlarımıza,
Büyük dayanışma gösteren Sn Demirtaş, Sn Mızraklı, Sn Gültan Kışanak, Sn Figen Yüksekdağ, Sn… pic.twitter.com/Bm6V6nMtTf
— Abdullah Zeydan (@AbdullahZeydan) April 4, 2024
Protests followed-up
This decision of the removal of Zeydan from the post of mayor triggered protests in Van and other cities.
Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators and made several arrests. In Istanbul, police also broke up a demonstration by dozens of lawyers who marched to a courthouse to denounce the decision.
Over the past years, Erdogan’s government had removed elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office for alleged links to Kurdish militants and replaced them with state-appointed trustees.
