Twenty-three local Kurdish politicians in Urfa arrested on 'terror' charges

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Twenty-three people, including Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) district co-chairs were detained in house raids on March 27 in the Suruç district of the predominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Urfa.

They were detained on charges of "belonging to a terrorist organization" and "providing financial support to a terrorist organization." After being questioned at the local police station, they were taken to the Urfa Courthouse in the evening and subsequently arrested on the request of the public prosecutor, according to the Mezopotamya Agency (MA).

The names of those arrested are: Former Suruç Municipality Co-Mayor Hülya Demir (51), HDP District Co-Mayor Yaşar Gündüzalp (39), DBP District Co-Mayor Rojda Binici (53), Avni Gökhan (55), Ayşe Aksu (54), Bülent Koçyiğit (45), Ferdi Karakelle (28) ), Ferit Bali (37), Feryal Çelikbaş (49), İbrahim Bülbül (46), İsmet Bali (46), Mahide Kurttekin (49), Mahmut Bali (39), Mehmet Akif Yıldız (39), Mustafa Bali (23) , Nermin Şakir (60), Mustafa Bali (59), Osman Akgün (55), Sabri Kaya (56), Salih Kaplan (44), Savaş İlhan (36), Veysel Bali (34) and Zeki Bali (40).

Mayors in the region were previously replaced with government-apointed trustees. After the 2019 local elections, multiple mayors from the HDP were detained and replaced with trustees in the region based on "terrorism-related" investigations, including the Suruç Co-Mayor Hatice Çevik. The removal and arrests of democratically elected mayors resulted in international disapproval, with the Council of Europe judging it as contrary to international law. (NT/WM/VK)