Prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk, a former co-mayor of Mardin in southeastern Turkey from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), has been acquitted of terrorism-related charges that were used to justify his removal from office last year, Turkish Minute reported.
Türk, 83, was removed from his post by the interior ministry in November 2024, marking the third time he had been ousted as mayor. The ministry cited an ongoing trial at the Ankara 14th High Criminal Court as justification for the move, saying he was being prosecuted for “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”
The case stemmed from a speech Türk gave in the southeastern province of Siirt in March 2011, for which prosecutors accused him of promoting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. The trial began in 2022.
Türk’s lawyers attended the final hearing at the Ankara court on Thursday via video link from the Mardin Courthouse.
The prosecutor requested a conviction, but Türk’s lawyers argued that the case was unlawful, noting that the Siirt Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had issued a decision of non-prosecution in 2014 on the same file.
According to Mezopotamya the court ruled that Türk’s remarks did not constitute a crime, finding that his words fell within the limits of freedom of expression in a democratic society, resulting in his acquittal.
The ministry had previously referred to this case when appointing a trustee to replace Türk, saying at the time that he was being tried for “spreading terrorist propaganda.”
In his 2011 speech, Türk had praised what he described as the Kurdish people’s “struggle for freedom. “Thousands have sacrificed their lives for this cause. Today, people across Kurdistan’s cities, towns and villages are on their feet for our heroic martyrs,” he said, referring to PKK militants who lost their lives in the decades-long conflict with Turkey.
The court’s decision comes at a time of ongoing peace talks with the PKK aimed at resolving the armed conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives since the PKK took up arms in 1984.
Türk visited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in prison on İmralı Island as a member of a DEM Party delegation earlier this year as part of ongoing peace efforts with the PKK. In February Öcalan made a historic call to the PKK, urging it to lay down its weapons and disband. The militants announced that they would act in line with Öcalan’s call and burned their weapons in northern Iraq as a symbolic first step on July 30.
In an earlier interview Türk said he opposed being reinstated while trustees remained in charge of opposition-controlled municipalities, referring to an ongoing crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
“I would not want to be reinstated as long as trustees are being appointed to CHP-run municipalities. All trustee appointments should be lifted together,” he said.
The ongoing peace talks have raised the prospect of the reinstatement to office of the DEM Party mayors who were removed on terrorism-related accusations following their election in the March 2024 local elections.
The government has not taken any step to that effect so far. Following his acquittal, it remains to be seen in the coming days whether Türk will be reinstated to his post.
Dozens of pro-Kurdish mayors from the DEM Party’s predecessors have been removed from their posts on similar charges in the past.
