The mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, Ahmet Özer, who was arrested due to ties to the PKK, has visited MEBYA-DER, an organization with links to the terrorist organization, and sought support for the March 31 local elections, according to the investigation.
It was found through an investigation of Özer’s bank accounts that 482,750 TL was transferred to a figure with ties to the PKK/KCK.
Özer, who was determined to have held phone calls with 694 suspects linked to the PKK, had also planned to meet with PKK-linked Mehmet Kaya in Van province. Upon determining this meeting, security forces have closely followed Özer’s Van visit.
The mayor went to Van on Dec.15 and met with nine PKK/KCK members, after which he visited MEBYA-DER. The association was found to have theoretical and ideological works that infuse the ideas of the terrorist organization.
Moreover, two days before the local elections, on March 29, Özer received $40,000 dollars in his bank account from a sender whose identity could not be determined.
Özer was replaced with a government-appointed trustee on Thursday following his arrest over alleged membership in the PKK terrorist group.
Özer, elected from the opposition’s Republican People's Party (CHP) in the municipal elections earlier in March, was suspended as a temporary measure. Istanbul Deputy Governor Can Aksoy has been appointed as deputy mayor of Esenyurt, Interior Ministry announced in a statement.
Özer was arrested late Wednesday when authorities found concrete evidence, including communication records, physical tracking reports, banking transactions and continuous contact with high-level terrorists of the PKK.
Police searched Özer’s house, office and vehicle and seized documents regarding his appointment in the PKK’s so-called democratic autonomy project during a meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the prison island Imralı. The said appointment is also mentioned in organizational documents seized from other PKK suspects and delivered to the PKK stronghold in northern Iraq's Qandil region.
CHP Chairperson Özgür Özel meanwhile criticized the arrest, saying: 'Neither art, nor politics, nor the condolence phone call opened after the death of a relative, nor the phone call from 10 years ago can be associated with terrorism." He said he would hold his party's group meeting in front of the Silivri Prison on Friday.
The CHP had come under fire during local elections for "covertly" cooperating with the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). In the case of Esenyurt, both parties had agreed on Özer as a joint candidate, as the HDP refused to nominate a candidate for the district.
Özer’s detention comes amid increased debate around the end of terrorism and heightened security against PKK attacks in Türkiye after the terrorists killed five and injured 22 in an attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in Ankara last week.
