'We are not scared,' says Kurdish mayor following controversial election win
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish politician Abdullah Zeydan on Friday said he does not fear losing his position after the Turkish electoral body temporarily nullified his landslide victory in Sunday’s local elections.
“We are not scared. People who struggle for justice, peace, and democracy are not cowards. We have confidence in ourselves and our people. We knew that justice would be served,” Zeydan, who ran in the polls on the ticket of the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told Rudaw’s Mashallah Dakak hours after officially receiving the mandate to take up his role as the mayor of Van metropolis.
Zeydan got over 55 percent of the votes in Sunday’s elections while the runner-up, Abdulahat Arvas, candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), received 27 percent.
Zeydan’s candidacy, however, had been revoked late on last Friday by a court acting on a last minute request by the justice ministry and the Van branch of the election board handed the win to Arvas.
Protests and demonstrations erupted across the Kurdish-majority southeast in reaction to the move. The country’s opposition parties as well as AKP’s allies and officials criticized the decision.
The DEM Party filed an appeal with the election board, which was accepted on Wednesday.
Zeydan on Friday thanked his supporters for “prevailing a will” by voting for him.
The mayor promised to serve the city.
Zeydan, who was arrested in November 2016 and remained in prison for terror-related charges until January 2023, was given a “reinstatement of suspended rights,” meaning clearance to take part in elections, from a Van court in 2022.
“We are not scared. People who struggle for justice, peace, and democracy are not cowards. We have confidence in ourselves and our people. We knew that justice would be served,” Zeydan, who ran in the polls on the ticket of the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told Rudaw’s Mashallah Dakak hours after officially receiving the mandate to take up his role as the mayor of Van metropolis.
Zeydan got over 55 percent of the votes in Sunday’s elections while the runner-up, Abdulahat Arvas, candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), received 27 percent.
Zeydan’s candidacy, however, had been revoked late on last Friday by a court acting on a last minute request by the justice ministry and the Van branch of the election board handed the win to Arvas.
Protests and demonstrations erupted across the Kurdish-majority southeast in reaction to the move. The country’s opposition parties as well as AKP’s allies and officials criticized the decision.
The DEM Party filed an appeal with the election board, which was accepted on Wednesday.
Zeydan on Friday thanked his supporters for “prevailing a will” by voting for him.
The mayor promised to serve the city.
Zeydan, who was arrested in November 2016 and remained in prison for terror-related charges until January 2023, was given a “reinstatement of suspended rights,” meaning clearance to take part in elections, from a Van court in 2022.