HDP Mayor Ayhan Bilgen Threatened with Death on Social Media

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Ayhan Bilgen, the mayor of the eastern Kars province, received death threats on social media, his attorney said on Twitter on Saturday (May 16).

Attorney Bişar Abdi Alınak shared the screenshot of the threat message which said, "Good night, comrade" in Kurdish and threatened the mayor with death, as well as referring to the JİTEM (Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism), an agency that was allegedly responsible of forced disappearances in southeast Turkey during the conflict in 1990s. A court ruled in September 2019 that such an agency did not exist.

The profile picture of the Twitter user who threatened Bilgen is a photo of Mahmut Yıldırım, also known as "Yeşil" (the Green), who was allegedly a member of the JİTEM and was involved in many cases of extrajudicial execution and torture.

15 yıl önce MAZLUMDER çalışmalarında da benzer tehditlere tanıklık ettik.Onlar alışkanlıklarından vazgeçmediği gibi bizim açımızdan da değişen bir şey olmadı.Demirden korkan trene binmez. https://t.co/K4EtD4UbuQ

— Ayhan Bilgen (@ayhanbilgen) May 16, 2020

Bilgen is a member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a prominent party especially in the mostly Kurdish-populated eastern and southeastern regions and is often accused of "cooperating with terrorists" by the government. It won 65 municipalities in last year's local election but the Ministry of Interior has taken over 45 of them due to "terrorism-related" investigations and charges against the HDP mayors.

Bilgen said in a tweet that he had also received similar threats 15 years ago and he was not afraid. His attorney said they would file a criminal complaint against those who threatened the mayor.

On April 19, three people attacked the Kars Municipality, asking employees about the mayor. (RT/VK)