Mehmet Alkan, the co-mayor of Kağızman district in Kars, eastern Turkey, has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for membership in an armed terrorist organization by the Kars 2nd Heavy Penal Court.
Alkan was first detained in 2019 but was later released under judicial control while his trial continued.
During the final hearing yesterday, the prosecutor requested that Alkan be sentenced for membership in a terrorist organization. Alkan’s lawyer requested additional time to prepare a defense, but the court rejected the request and issued a final ruling, sentencing Alkan to prison on the same charge.
Alkan previously served as Kağızman’s co-mayor from 2009 to 2014 as a member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). He was re-elected as co-mayor in the Mar 31, 2024 local elections under the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, the successor of the HDP.
The mayor is expected to be removed from office and replaced with a government-appointed trustee.
Following news of the verdict, plainclothes police officers were seen gathering around Kağızman Municipality, according to a report by the pro-Kurdiish Yeni Yaşam newspaper. Some officers remained in their vehicles, while others sat in nearby cafes.
The newspaper also reported that police intervened when a person tried to take footage outside the municipality, allegedly forcing them to delete the images and leave the area.
DEM Party Kars MP Gülistan Kılıç-Koçyiğit denounced the court’s decision on social media, stating that Alkan was convicted in violation of fundamental legal principles. She criticized the ruling, emphasizing that the court issued the verdict in Alkan’s absence and without granting his lawyer additional time for defense. She called the decision "the clearest example of the judiciary being politicized and the law being used as a tool."
Municipal takeovers after 2024 local elections
Following the 2024 local elections, the government took over several municipalities controlled by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), citing terrorism-related court verdicts and criminal investigations against them.
The first municipality that the government took over was the Hakkari city on June 4 due to "terrorism" charges against Mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış.
On Oct 31, The Interior Ministry replaced the mayor of İstanbul's Esenyurt district, run by the CHP, citing a "terrorism" investigation into the mayor. This was followed on Nov 4 by the removal of the mayors of the cities of Mardin and Batman, and Urfa's Halfeti district, controlled by the DEM Party, on the grounds of ongoing "terrorism-related" criminal cases against them. The ministry has appointed governors and district governors as trustees in the place of the mayors.
On Jan 17, the mayor of İstanbul's Beşiktaş district, Rıza Akpolat, a member of the CHP, was remanded in custody for "being a member of a criminal ring," "bid rigging," and "unjustified benefits" and subsequently removed from office. Currently, Rıza Şişman, a district municipal councilor, serves as the acting mayor.
On Jan 28, Siirt Co-Mayor Safiye Alağaş was removed from office shortly after receiving a prison sentence on "terrorism" charges because of her past journalism activities.
On Feb 15, co-mayor of Van, Abdullah Zeydan, was dismissed by the Interior Ministry after he was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison for "aiding a terrorist organization."
The DEM Party won 11 cities among 75 municipalities in the 2024 polls. It has now lost six of those cities.
Under Turkish law, the interior ministry has the authority to suspend mayors under criminal investigation, appointing trustees to act in their stead. The trustee has the authority to dissolve municipal councils, legislative bodies of municipalities, which are separately elected bodies typically composed of members from various political parties.
The government widely implemented trustee policies during the period of state of emergency following a failed coup in 2016, taking over almost all municipalities run by the HDP, the successor of the DEM Party, in the country’s Kurdish-populated regions. The party regained the municipalities in the 2019 election by winning the elections in 65 municipal areas, including eight cities. However, all but five district and town municipalities were eventually taken over by the government in the following months, citing “terrorism” investigations and cases against the mayors.
(VK)
