Turkey sacks Kurdish mayor of Van
PKK says Ocalan seeks 'democratization' of Kurdish issue
Kurdish mayor deems Turkish court ruling against him political
Turkey hands 45-month prison sentence on Van's Kurdish mayor
Kurdish language declining among youth in northeast Turkey
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey's Interior Ministry on Saturday dismissed the Kurdish mayor of Van, Abdullah Zeydan, and replaced him with a trustee after he was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail on terror-related charges.
A court in Diyarbakir (Amed) convicted Zeydan on Tuesday for 'aiding the terrorist organization and engaging in its propaganda.'
As expected, the Interior Ministry said in a statement early Saturday morning that based on the court ruling they had temporarily removed Zeydan from his post and replaced him with a state-affiliated administrator or trustee.
Supporters of the Van mayor have taken to the streets since Tuesday to condemn the court decision, which the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) criticized as 'unlawful.'
Protesters have also staged a sit-in in front of the municipality building to prevent security forces from removing the mayor.
Zeydan's tenure has been fraught with uncertainty since his victory in Turkey's local elections last March, when he secured over 55 percent of the votes for the DEM Party, defeating the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate.
His victory was challenged in a local court responding to a last-minute request by the Justice Ministry. As a result, the mayorship was handed to the AKP runner-up. This sparked protests in the Kurdish-majority southeast and drew widespread criticism from both AKP allies and opposition parties.
The DEM Party filed an appeal with the election board to challenge the removal of Zeydan, which was accepted, leading to his reinstatement as mayor.
Since 2016, dozens of Kurdish mayors have been dismissed and sentenced on 'terrorism-related' charges for alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara has designated a terrorist organization. The dismissed mayors are replaced with state-appointed trustees.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Shafaq News
7 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Turkiye destroys smuggling tunnel in Syria
Shafaq News – Idlib / Suwayda On Wednesday, a Turkish military operation targeted a smuggling tunnel linking Syria to Turkiye, in Atmeh, north of Idlib. According to Shafaq News correspondent, the blast, which shook nearby displacement camps, caused no casualties but sparked panic among residents. Meanwhile in Suwayda, a local source told our agency that a detonation occurred between al-Thaala and Tel Hadid, coinciding with Israeli aircraft flying overhead. The cause of the explosion remains unclear, and officials have yet to issue a statement. These incidents came just days after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt near al-Wahda bakery in Aleppo's al-Maysar neighborhood and another explosion rattled Nawa city in western Daraa countryside.
Rudaw Net
11 hours ago
- Rudaw Net
Kurdistan Region's forests nearly halved by fires over 60 years: Official
Also in Kurdistan KRG halts flights to Saudi Arabia as Umrah pilgrims remain stranded Erbil court hands Duhok journalist new prison sentence Plastic waste accounts for over a quarter of the Kurdistan Region's trash, experts warn Halabja declares two days of mourning after wildfires claim two lives A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nearly half of the Kurdistan Region's forests have been lost over the past several decades, an environment official said Wednesday, as civil defense teams struggle to contain recent blazes that have destroyed thousands of dunams of woodland. 'We have lost nearly 50 percent of our forests in the last 50 to 60 years,' Sanan Abdullah, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region's Board of Environmental Protection and Improvement, told Rudaw. He attributed the loss to 'political, military, and social reasons,' as well as rising temperatures as climate change takes its toll on the region. In June 2024, Turkey intensified its decades-long war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), particularly in northern Duhok province. The conflict sparked numerous fires that burned swathes of land and endangered the lives of villagers. However, amid the ongoing peace process, military attacks in the area have decreased by 97 percent, according to US-based Human Rights Watch and local conflict monitors, resulting in significantly fewer fires compared to last summer. Leftover landmines from the Turkey-PKK conflict and earlier battles between the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the former Iraqi regime have also contributed to the fires. According to Abdullah, the Region had nearly 5 million dunams of forest land in the 1950s. From 2009 to 2022 alone, nearly 1 million dunams were lost. 'This accounts for the loss of a historical sum of our forests,' he said. A dunam equals 2,500 square meters. 'The [fires] have a significant long-term effect on the area. The growth of a forest takes many years of work… But fires cause them a lot of damage, and require [around] 50 years until a forest is revitalized,' Abdullah explained. He urged the use of modern technologies to help mitigate wildfires. 'We must protect the forests,' he said. On Tuesday, Halabja declared two days of mourning for two people - a civilian and a member of the Kurdistan Region's forestry police - who died while trying to extinguish a wildfire that has burned for a third consecutive day in the province. The blaze destroyed large parts of dense, mountainous forest in hard-to-reach areas. An official from Halabja on Tuesday told Rudaw that uncleared mines have made it more difficult to contain the fire. Wildfires in Sulaimani province in late June scorched hundreds of dunams of land, destroyed centuries-old trees, and caused widespread environmental damage. Officials and residents warned at the time that limited resources and difficult terrain were hampering firefighting efforts. Wildfires are a recurring problem in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, particularly during the summer months when extreme heat significantly increases the risk.
Shafaq News
12 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Leader Barzani with US Envoy: Kurdistan oil exports resumption on table
Shafaq News – Erbil Kurdish Leader Masoud Barzani met on Wednesday with Stephen Fagan, acting US Ambassador to Iraq, to discuss the resumption of Kurdistan Region's oil exports and support for US companies operating in the Region. According to a statement from Barzani's media office, the meeting also covered preparations for Iraq's upcoming parliamentary elections, broader ties with Washington, progress in reforming the Peshmerga Ministry, and efforts to form a new Kurdish government. Regional developments, including the situation in Syria, were also discussed. On relations with Baghdad, the statement pointed to the unresolved issue of Kurdistan's salaries and financial entitlements, stressing that 'citizens' wages should not be caught up in political disputes.'
