Hundreds protest in Turkey against mayor’s arrest over alleged terror links

On By Littum

Ahmet Özer, the mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained by anti-terrorist police on Wednesday over his alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

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Hundreds of people have gathered in Istanbul to protest the arrest and dismissal of a mayor from Turkey’s main opposition party for alleged links to a banned Kurdish militant group.

Ahmet Özer, the mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained by anti-terrorist police on Wednesday over his alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

On Thursday, the government replaced Özer with Istanbul’s deputy governor, a move CHP leader Özgür Özel and other politicians called a “coup”.

Protesters filled a square in Esenyurt, a western suburb on Istanbul’s European side, after the government banned a demonstration outside the municipality building.

Some carried banners that read “We want an elected mayor not an appointed mayor” and called for the resignation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.

64-year-old Özer is a former academic originally from Van in eastern Turkey.

He was elected mayor of Esenyurt in the local elections in March.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office said an investigation showed Özer had maintained contacts with PKK figures for more than 10 years.

His home, vehicle and office in the municipality were searched on Wednesday as part of the investigation.

Özer’s arrest comes after an attack on the headquarters of Turkish defense firm TUSAS in Ankara on October 24, in which five people were killed. The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Türkiye is debating an interim peace process to end a 40-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.

The PKK initially sought to establish an independent Kurdish state, but changed its goals in the 1990s to demand increased political and cultural rights for Kurds in Türkiye.

Turkey’s Western allies, including the United States and the European Union, list the PKK as a terrorist organization.