The Turkish Interior Ministry, which has recently increased its pressure on opposition-run municipalities, has removed another Kurdish mayor from his post due to his conviction in a terror-related trial, Turkish Minute reported.
The ministry announced on Friday the removal of Ayvaz Hazır, the co-mayor of Bahçesaray district in the eastern province of Van from office following a court ruling against him. Hazır, who was elected from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in the local elections of March 31, has been replaced by the district governor, Harun Arslanargun.
The ministry’s move came on the same day that Hazır was convicted of “committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization” and sentenced to three years and 11 months in prison. He was removed from office just hours later on Friday.
Hazır denounced the ministry’s decision as being politically motivated, claiming that he would have been acquitted if he had not been a co-mayor from the DEM Party.
He told the Mezopotamya news agency that judges made the decision against him not independently but as a result of government pressure and coercion.
Hazır was originally accused in a case filed on December 24, 2015. The charges related to his participation in an event where he allegedly called for self-rule for Kurds. According to Hazır, however, he was merely working in the municipality’s press unit at the time and was sent by the then-mayor to photograph the event in question.
“It’s very telling that this sentence was handed down so long after the case was initiated, during my tenure as mayor,” he said.
While specific affiliations were not detailed, such charges often pertain to an alleged connection with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The decision has sparked criticism, with some observers pointing to the political dynamics of Bahçesaray. The district had been governed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) for years until Hazır and his co-mayor, Nebahat Benek, won the 2019 local elections as DEM Party candidates. Hazır narrowly defeated the AKP candidate, Remzi Orhan, receiving 21.33 percent of the vote compared with Orhan’s 21.18 percent on March 31. The AKP contested the election results twice, but recounts confirmed the DEM Party victory.
Hazır’s sentence and his subsequent removal from office add to growing concerns about judicial actions targeting opposition figures in Turkey. His case follows a pattern of legal challenges against pro-Kurdish politicians, often accused of links to terrorist groups. Critics argue that such cases undermine democratic governance and disproportionately affect opposition-held municipalities.
The DEM Party has launched protests following Hazır’s dismissal from office, with party members, co-mayors, and municipal council members staging a vigil outside the municipal hall. They also organized a protest march over the weekend.
Removal of elected mayors after March 31 elections
The AKP government has taken over several municipalities controlled by the DEM Party and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) following the local elections on March 31, citing terrorism-related court ruling and ongoing investigations into them.
The first mayor that the government removed from office this year was Mehmet Sıddık Akış of Hakkari province in southeastern Turkey from the DEM Party on June 4 due to “terrorism” charges against the mayor.
On October 31, the Interior Ministry replaced the mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district, run by the CHP, citing a “terrorism” investigation into the mayor. This was followed on November 4 by the removal of the mayors of the cities of Mardin and Batman, and Şanlıurfa’s Halfeti district, all run by DEM Party, due to ongoing “terrorism-related” criminal cases against them. The ministry has appointed governors and district governors as trustees in place of the elected mayors.
Turkey became well acquainted with the removal of democratically elected Kurdish mayors from office on terrorism accusations after the local elections in 2016 and 2019, but there were hopes that the government would not resort to such a step this time, given the significant public support afforded DEM Party mayors in the country’s southeast in the local elections.
As a result, the recent removal of mayors has come as a disappointment to many, leading to protests and calls on the government from various segments of society to end the controversial practice and respect the will of the Kurdish people and government opponents.
In earlier appointments of trustees, the Turkish government claimed the removal of Kurdish mayors was a counterterrorism measure and that the elected mayors were funneling municipal funds to the PKK.
The mayors denied the accusations and described them as politically motivated.
