The Turkish government’s persecution of members of the Kurdish political movement and pressure on other opposition groups persisted throughout 2024, with people linked to such groups detained by the Turkish authorities.
In addition to leading political figures, thousands of people in Turkey are currently under investigation, and most of them are under the threat of imprisonment over alleged insults of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or his ruling Justice and Development party (AKP).
According to a report by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Turkish authorities detained at least 3,948 people and arrested 632 in 2024 as part of an intensified crackdown on the DEM Party and affiliated groups.
In the March 31 local elections, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) emerged as the leading party for the first time in 47 years, securing 37.7 percent of the vote, maintaining control of key cities and securing substantial gains in other regions, while the AKP came in second, garnering only 35.4 percent.
The CHP’s election victory led to widespread concerns that Erdoğan might resort to measures that would hinder the operations of opposition municipalities or discredit them in the eyes of the public in retaliation for his party’s election loss.
Despite claims of voter fraud, the DEM Party emerged victorious in the local elections, winning a dozen municipalities in Turkey’s southeast. The DEM Party won three metropolitan municipalities out of 30, seven provincial municipalities and 65 district municipalities in the March 31 local elections.
The Turkish government took over several municipalities controlled by the DEM Party and the CHP following the local elections, citing terrorism-related court rulings and ongoing investigations into them. The government removed the first mayor from office from the DEM Party in June due to “terrorism” charges against him.
Former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, who were imprisoned in late 2016, spent the year behind bars despite an outstanding European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) order for Demirtaş’s release, while scores of former HDP politicians, including MPs and elected mayors who were ousted by the Ministry of Interior, continued to sit in pretrial detention, stand trial and serve their sentences. Last year Demirtaş was also sentenced to more than two years in prison for remarks made between 2015 and 2017, alleged to have denigrated state institutions.
Here are some of the headlines from 2024 that concern the crackdown on Kurdish politicians and other political opposition:
Ankara court issued lengthy sentences for Kurdish politicians in Kobani trial
An Ankara court issued a verdict in the long-running Kobani trial and handed down lengthy prison sentences in May for dozens of Kurdish politicians, including imprisoned leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.
Demirtaş is among 108 former pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) politicians who stood trial. The HDP is the predecessor of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). More..
A Turkish court in July sentenced Demirtaş to more than two years in prison for remarks made between 2015 and 2017, alleging that they denigrated state institutions. More..
Demirtaş has been imprisoned since November 2016 on charges related to his political activities and speeches, which many international observers, including human rights organizations, have condemned as politically motivated.
In its 2020 ruling on Demirtaş, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ordered his release and said his “unjustified” detention pursued the ulterior motive of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate in Turkey.
Turkish authorities intensified crackdown on pro-Kurdish opposition in 2024
Turkish authorities detained at least 3,948 people and arrested 632 in 2024 as part of an intensified crackdown on the DEM Party and affiliated groups, according to a report published by the DEM Party. More..
Appeals court in SE Turkey upheld sentences of 58 Kurdish politicians accused of ‘terrorism’
An appeals court in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep in May upheld prison sentences previously handed down to 58 Kurdish politicians, including former executives of the HDP and the Democratic Regions’ Party (DBP) on terrorism-related charges. More..
Turkish gov’t tightened its grip on opposition mayors over alleged irregular spending, unpaid debts
Turkish prosecutors launched investigations of three municipalities including the İstanbul and Ankara metropolitan municipalities run by main opposition CHP mayors on accusations of irregular spending and unpaid debts to the government. More..
In December the Labor Ministry imposed financial sanctions on six municipalities run by the CHP aimed at collecting debt owed the government. More..
Jailed PKK leader willing to take initiative for settlement of Kurdish conflict
Ömer Öcalan, a lawmaker from the DEM Party and a nephew of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said his uncle clearly stated his willingness to take the initiative for the settlement of a decades-long armed conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK. More..
Turkey’s top court upheld prison sentence for ousted Kurdish mayor in retrial
Turkey’s top appeals court upheld a prison sentence of more than nine years handed down to Selçuk Mızraklı, the former co-mayor of the predominantly Kurdish province of Diyarbakır, who was removed from office in 2019 and stood trial on terrorism-related charges. More..
Kurdish mayor denied mandate despite winning landslide victory in eastern Turkey
Abdullah Zeydan, a Kurdish politician who won the local election in Turkey’s eastern province of Van with a landslide victory in March, was denied the mandate to serve as the city’s mayor due to a last-minute political ban imposed on him, while the runner-up from the ruling party was recognized as the city’s new mayor by the election authority. More..
Turkish police detained 340 people over protests that erupted across Turkey in response to a local electoral authority’s decision to annul the victory of Zeydan and hand the mayorship to the ruling party’s runner-up. More..
Prosecutor asked to keep Kurdish politician in jail despite eligibility for release
A Turkish prosecutor demanded the continued pretrial detention of Gültan Kışanak, a Kurdish politician and the former co-mayor of Diyarbakır who has been behind bars on terrorism-related charges since October 2016. More..
Prosecutors launched investigation into DEM Party members over Kurdish anthem
The Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into 13 members of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party for singing a Kurdish anthem during a protest in southeastern Turkey. More..
Turkey’s former opposition leader charged again, faces up to 65 years in prison
New criminal charges were filed against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former leader of the CHP, who faces up to 65 years in prison in 18 criminal cases. More..
Kılıçdaroğlu appeared in court in November and was accused of insulting President Erdoğan by calling him a “thief.” More..
Turkey detained main opposition party mayor over alleged links to PKK
Ahmet Özer, the mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district from Turkey’s main opposition CHP, was detained at his home in October on suspicion of membership in the outlawed PKK. More..
Turkey detained 165 in operations targeting Kurdish political movement
Turkish police in January conducted raids across 28 provinces and detained a total of 165 people, including peace activists and members of the DEM Party, for alleged ties to terrorism. More..
Turkey sentenced 15 Kurdish politicians to more than 100 years in prison
A court in southeast Turkey announced its verdict in the trial of 15 local Kurdish politicians accused of terrorism, handing down sentences totaling close to 104 years in prison in total. The defendants, including former member of parliament Gülser Yıldırım, received prison sentences ranging from six years, three months to seven years, six months on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. More..
Kurdish co-mayor detained following protests over trustee appointment
Birsen Orhan, the former co-mayor of Tunceli from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, was taken into custody in December. Orhan was detained due to allegedly “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations” and “resisting officials to prevent them from performing their duty.” More..
Elderly Kurdish politician died in prison after his parole was delayed
Abdülmelik Okyay, a 71-year-old Kurdish politician imprisoned for social media posts, died of a heart attack in September while incarcerated after his parole was delayed. More..
Kurdish man who questioned ‘transferred’ voters on election day indicted
Süleyman Salğucak, a Kurdish man who questioned voters who were allegedly “transferred” to his city of residence in the southeastern province of Şırnak on the day of the March 31 local elections to change the election results in favor of the ruling party, was indicted. More..
Turkey removed another Kurdish mayor from office
The Turkish Interior Ministry removed another Kurdish mayor from office due to his conviction in a terrorism-related trial. The ministry announced in December the removal of Ayvaz Hazır, the co-mayor of the Bahçesaray district in the eastern province of Van, from office following a court ruling against him. More..
Turkey began trial of 5 former MPs from pro-Kurdish party over Kobani protests
A Turkish court in June began to hear the trial of five former lawmakers from a pro-Kurdish party over their alleged role in violent protests that erupted in southeastern Turkey over the siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014. More..
Turkish gov’t removed Kurdish mayor from office 2 months after his election
Turkey’s Interior Ministry removed Mehmet Sıddık Akış, the co-mayor of Hakkari from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, and replaced him with a trustee two months after his election to office. More..
Kurdish mayor faced removal from office after top appeals court ruling Abdullah Zeydan of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, who won the race for mayor of the eastern province of Van, which sits on Turkey’s eastern border with Iran, faced removal from office after the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed a 2023 lower court decision that had restored his right to run for office. More..
