Security forces rounded up dozens of people as supporters of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) took to the streets against the appointment of trustees in three mayoral offices. Throughout Monday, pro-DEM Party crowds tried to force their way into the municipality buildings in the southeastern Turkish provinces of Mardin and Batman and the district of Halfeti in Şanlıurfa. DEM Party mayors of three municipalities were earlier replaced with trustees appointed by the government as all three were convicted of offenses related to the PKK terrorist group. The DEM Party is known for its links to the terrorist group.
In addition to the southeast, violent protests spread to Istanbul where riot police struggled to contain the unruly crowds in the district of Esenyurt.
Authorities had earlier issued a 10-day ban on gatherings in Batman, Mardin and Halfeti, and other southeastern provinces and towns against possible riots but crowds defied the ban. In Batman, at least 75 people were detained for violating the ban. Among them was a group of suspects who hurled stones at police taking security measures.
Trustee appointments also led to quarrels in meetings of several municipal assemblies across Türkiye. DEM Party representatives and representatives of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which threw its support behind the former against appointments, disrupted meetings on Monday, criticizing the government. In Istanbul’s Kağıthane district, two people were injured in a brawl between CHP and DEM Party supporters and assembly members from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Among the mayors sacked on Monday was Ahmet Türk, a veteran politician who was elected as mayor of Mardin province in the March 31 municipal vote. Others were Gülistan Sönük, mayor of Batman, and Mehmet Karayılan, mayor of the Halfeti district of the Şanlıurfa province, the birthplace of PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan.
The DEM Party is known for its intricate ties to the PKK, which has killed thousands in its campaign of violence since the 1980s. Ahmet Özer, mayor of Istanbul's Esenyurt district, from the main opposition CHP, who was reportedly fielded as a candidate in the municipal election upon demand of the DEM Party, was also replaced with a trustee on Oct. 30 after he was arrested for his links to the PKK.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Monday that Türk, who was released earlier, pending trial, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a trial in the capital of Ankara regarding the notorious "Kobani riots" in 2014 where the DEM Party's predecessor, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), provoked pro-PKK groups to attack their opponents, leading to deaths of 37 people across the country. The statement added that Türk was also a defendant in a trial over pro-PKK propaganda in Ankara and was under investigation for membership in a terrorist group by the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Mardin. Similarly, Sönük was convicted of membership in a terrorist group and sentenced to six years and three months in prison by a court in Batman and was the subject of two separate investigations in Batman based on terror-related charges. Batman Governor Ekrem Canalp replaced Sönük. The ministry said Mehmet Karayılan had already been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for membership in a terrorist group by a court in the Gaziantep province, where he served as co-chair of the local branch of the HDP. Karayılan was also under investigation for membership in a terrorist group by prosecutors in Şanlıurfa. He was replaced by the Halfeti district governor, Hakan Başoğlu.
The appointment of trustees for mayors convicted of terrorism and other offenses is a legal practice in Türkiye and most mayors linked to the PKK were removed from office after the 2019 municipal polls, mainly in southeastern Türkiye. Ahmet Türk was also replaced with a trustee as Mardin mayor in 2019. However, the DEM Party made a triumphant return in the region, winning most seats in the March 31 elections, though some among their candidates had pending trials over PKK links. Abdullah Zeydan, another DEM Party mayor, was removed from office by the local electoral authority after winning the election in the eastern province of Van but he was later reinstated.
The DEM Party also drew public ire when its co-chair, Tuncer Bakırhan, implied an "uprising" against appointments. Bakırhan told a crowd outside the Mardin municipality building on Monday that Kurds would do "what Seyit Rıza, Şeyh Said, Sakine did," referring to controversial historical figures and one of the founders of the PKK. The PKK claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule and draws recruits from the community. Seyit Rıza and Şeyh Said were prominent Kurds who were executed by the state for their alleged role in "Kurdish" rebellions in the early years of the Republic of Türkiye.
Social media users called on authorities to launch an investigation into the remarks of Bakırhan, while some labeled the DEM Party as an "internal security problem" over the remarks of Bakırhan.