President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the government may consider halting its long-standing policy of seizing control of pro-Kurdish municipalities following the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s decision to disband.
“With the terrorist organization’s disbandment and the increased role of political channels, we believe the trustee practices in municipalities will return to being the exception again,” the president said yesterday at the parliamentary group meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The PKK announced on May 12 that it was dissolving itself, bringing an end to its more than four-decade armed insurgency. The move came after a new peace initiative launched by the ruling coalition in October and a public call from imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan urging the group to disband.
Erdoğan, Bahçeli welcome PKK disbanding as step to 'fortify domestic front' amid global instability
Following the collapse of the previous peace process in 2015, the government implemented widespread takeovers of municipalities in predominantly Kurdish regions, removing elected mayors from pro-Kurdish parties citing "terrorism" investigations and cases linking them to the PKK.
Since the 2024 local elections, where the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party won 11 cities, the government has taken over six of those cities by removing the mayors and appointing trustees instead.
Erdoğan also announced that a broader reform of local governance is in the works. Referring to the recent legal proceedings against the opposition-led İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its now-suspended mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been in pre-trial detention on corruption charges since March, he said, “The web of improper relationships, once thought to involve only certain political parties and politicians, now clearly extends into the bureaucracy, business circles, media, some religious groups, and even intelligence organizations."
"The root cause of this is corruption in municipal governance and the failure of oversight mechanisms," he added. "This corruption can be seen in all municipalities."
Intelligence to oversee PKK disarmament
Commenting on the implications of the PKK’s disarmament, Erdoğan said, “With the organization declaring its disbandment and laying down arms, we have entered a new phase in our efforts for a terror-free Turkey. It is about permanently removing the wall of terror that has divided our 86 million citizens.”
Erdoğan stressed the importance of the PKK’s "affiliates" in Syria and Europe also joining the disarmament process, describing it as “vital for regional peace.”
Turkey views the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in Syria's north and east as an extension of the PKK and calls for its dissolving. The administration, however, has refused to do so, arguing that PKK leader Öcalan's appeal was not directed at them.
Erdoğan further emphasized that words must be followed by action. “The MİT [National Intelligence Organization] will meticulously monitor whether commitments are being fulfilled. Once the organization does its part, advancing the remaining matters will become a political task,” he stated.
PKK calls for Öcalan’s release and legal reforms to implement disarmament
(VK)
