10th pro-Kurdish party mayor removed in eastern Turkiye
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A 10th mayor from Turkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest in parliament, has been removed from office.
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A protester waves a flag bearing a portrait of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) jailed in Turkiye since 1999, during a demonstration calling for his release in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on February 15, 2025. (AFP)
Turkiye's Interior Ministry announced on Monday the removal of a 10th pro-Kurdish party mayor in eastern Turkiye within less than a year, citing alleged connections with the PKK.
The removal of the DEM party (Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party) mayor, the third-largest political group in parliament, comes as the party leads talks with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of outlawed Kurdish militants, to end the four-decade-long conflict.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that "Mehmet Alkan, mayor of the Kagizman district in the province of Kars, has been temporarily suspended from his duties by the Interior Ministry because he was sentenced to six years and three months in jail on charges of membership of an armed terror group."
In a message on X, the DEM condemned the action as part of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) Party's "war against the people's right to vote and to be elected".
Ankara has intensified pressure on pro-Kurdish movements and sympathizers accused of "terrorism," while simultaneously pursuing talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terror group by Turkiye and much of the international community.
Last week, Turkish police arrested 282 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) armed group in raids over the past five days, according to a statement by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on February 18.
The raids spanned 51 provinces including Turkiye's capital, Ankara, and the largest city in the country Istanbul, with the suspects accused of conducting PKK propaganda, financing the armed group, recruiting members, and joining in street protests.
Read next: No place for PKK, ISIS in the future of the region: Erdogan
Turkiye's efforts against PKK
Turkiye's crackdown comes as signs show that the country may be moving towards wrapping up its conflict with the PKK, a group Turkiye recognizes as a "terrorist organization."
Turkish President Erdogan said, "There is no place for the Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK and its extensions, nor for ISIS, in the future of the region," during a December 2024 joint press conference with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Turkish intelligence has been reported to be holding talks with the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in prison, demanding members of his party to lay down arms, resolve their legal status with the Turkish state, or withdraw to the Qandil mountain, according to an Al Mayadeen source.
The source said the negotiations between Ankara and the PKK were positive, emphasizing that there is "significant agreement on several issues with Ocalan," while adding that "the negotiations require time and proceed through multiple stages."
The jailed PKK leader previously hinted at a possible willingness to disarm his party in December of 2024 after meeting two parliamentarians from the pro-Kurdish DEM party in a first-of-its-kind meeting to resolve the conflict between Turkiye and the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
