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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced the Kurdish mayor of the country's southeastern Van province to three years and nine months in prison on terror-related charges.
The Diyarbakir (Amed) court convicted Ahmad Zeydan 'for 'aiding the terrorist organization and engaging in its propaganda' through the media,' the Turkish opposition media outlet ANKA stated.
The Van mayor's supporters took to the streets on Tuesday to condemn the court decision which the DEM Party has criticized as 'unlawful.'
#BREAKING: Abdullah Zeydan, mayor of Van from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, has been sentenced to three years and nine months in jail for terror-related charges.
His supporters are protesting the ruling. pic.twitter.com/eT2fjwQIpt
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) February 11, 2025
Such court rulings in Turkey are widely seen as a precursor to dismissing mayors and replacing them with government-appointed trustees.
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 pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), defeating the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate.
However, his victory was quickly challenged by a local court, responding to a last-minute request by the justice ministry. As a result, the Van municipality was handed to the AKP runner-up. The move then sparked protests in the Kurdish-majority southeast and faced widespread criticism from both the AKP's allies and the country's opposition parties.
The DEM Party later filed an appeal with the election board to challenge the removal of Zeydan, which was accepted, leading to his reinstatement as mayor.
This is not the first time Zeydan has been sentenced on alleged terror-related charges. He was previously jailed between November 2016 and January 2023 on similar accusations. His rights were reinstated in 2022, allowing him to participate in the elections.
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 designates as a terrorist organization. Dismissed mayors are then replaced with state-appointed trustees.
Despite significant wins in most of the predominantly Kurdish regions in Turkey in the March elections, the DEM Party's affiliated mayors have frequently been dismissed.
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