Three of the four individuals detained during home raids in Dersim yesterday for participating in protests against recent trustee appointments were arrested on Monday, bringing the total number of arrests in related operations to nine.
According to reporting from Mezopotamya Agency (MA), one of the detainees, Çağdaş Kayaoğlu, was released after giving a statement to the prosecutor. However, Rıdvan Gül, Aykut Aksakallı, and Murat Karaboğa were referred to the Tunceli Penal Judgeship of Peace with a request for their arrest.
The court ruled to arrest Gül, Aksakallı, and Karaboğa on charges of “resisting law enforcement,” “damaging public property,” and “violating the Demonstrations and Marches Law (Law No. 2911).”
On Nov 22, the Interior Ministry dismissed the mayors of Dersim city and Ovacık district, citing recent court rulings against them on "terrorism" charges, sparking protests. Six others were previously arrested in connection with the demonstrations.
Dersim Mayor Cevdet Konak, a member of the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), and Ovacık Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), have been replaced with trustees.
Two mayors removed in Kurdish-populated Dersim city, sparking protests
Two opposition mayors sentenced to prison on ‘terror’ charges in Dersim
2024 municipal takeovers
The first municipality that te government took over was Hakkari on June 4 due to "terrorism" charges against Mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış.
On Oct 31, The Interior Ministry replaced the mayor of İstanbul's Esenyurt district, run by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), citing a "terrorism" investigation into the mayor. This was followed by the removal of the mayors of the cities of Mardin and Batman, and Urfa's Halfeti district, controlled by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party on Nov 4, on the grounds of ongoing "terrorism-related" criminal cases against them. The ministry has appointed governors and district governors as trustees in the place of the mayors.
Under Turkish law, the interior ministry has the authority to suspend mayors under criminal investigation, appointing trustees to act in their stead. The trustee has the authority to dissolve municipal councils, legislative body of municipalities, which are separately elected bodies typically composed of members from various political parties.
The government widely implemented trustee policies during the period of state of emergency following a failed coup in 2016, taking over almost all municipalities run by the HDP in the country’s Kurdish-populated regions. The party regained the municipalities in the 2019 election by winning the elections in 65 municipal areas, including eight cities. However, all but five district and town municipalities were eventually taken over by the government in the following months, citing “terrorism” investigations and cases against the mayors.
The DEM Party, the HDP’s successor, won 11 cities among 75 municipalities in the 2024 polls. With the most recent takeovers, the DEM has lost four of the 11 cities it won whereas the CHP lost two districts.
(VK)
