Pro-Kurdish party appeals to Turkish electoral board over Van mayor decision

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) announced on Wednesday that it has requested the country’s election board to annul a decision by its Van branch that prevents the party’s candidate in the city to take up his role as mayor despite having won Sunday’s local elections.  

DEM Party announced on Tuesday that five minutes before the end of working hours on Friday, the Turkish justice ministry objected to Van’s court’s decision to reinstate party’s Van candidate mayor Abdullah Zeydan’s suspended rights, with the chief prosecutor’s office appealing to the court to revoke the decision on the same day, rendering his candidacy invalid.

On the same day, the Van branch of the country’s electoral body (YSK) ruled that Zeydan was not eligible to take part in the elections, handing the mayoralty of the Kurdish city to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Abdulahat Arvas, who garnered the second-highest number of votes.

The DEM Party announced in a statement on Wednesday that they appealed to the country’s election board to reverse the decision of its Van branch and officially recognize Zeydan as the Kurdish city’s new mayor.

“Our [Van] Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Abdullah Zeydan and our lawyers requested the annulment of the decision of the Van Provincial Election Board in the application made today at 10:05,” read the DEM Party’s statement.

Following the decision to strip Zeydan of the mayoralty, protests and demonstrations erupted across Kurdish cities. The Turkish interior ministry announced on Wednesday that it had detained 89 protesters across the country for “demonstrating without permission, shouting praises and supportive slogans” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“We are witnessing absolute lawlessness in this situation… a trap has been set against the people’s will. We stand by the will of our people against this ambush until the end,” Zeydan told journalists during demonstrations in Van.

“It is not about Zeydan or [Neslihan] Sedal [his co-mayor], rather it is a trap set against the Kurdish people and the people of Van,” he added.

The Van governorate on Tuesday responded to the protests by banning demonstrations, protests, and public gatherings for 15 days. Protests continued on Wednesday despite the ban.
 
The decision to prevent Zeydan from taking up his position as mayor of Van drew the ire of politicians and civil rights activists across Turkey, including the opposition’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel who described the decision a “disgrace” and “an ambush against the will of the people.”

Jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas released a message to the public through the DEM Party, calling on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to abide by what he said on Sunday night following the vote, when he stated that AKP respects the outcomes of the elections.

“I would like to address Mr. President [Erdogan]. On election night, you stated that you would respect the will of the people and acknowledged the message. Unfortunately, what is happening in Van is not in line with your messages. Respect for the will of the people cannot be shown in this way,’” said Demirtas, adding that the people will not accept such a decision.

“We expect you to put an end to this course of action from the very beginning,” he added.

The Istanbul Bar Association also slammed the decision saying it showed that the country’s “political power ignores the will of the people.”