Demirtas says Turkey to seize municipalities of three main Kurdish cities
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - The co-chair of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas warned on Friday that Turkish Government could seize the administrations of the metropolitan municipalities of the Kurdish provinces of Diyarbakir, Van, and Mardin.
Addressing a large crowd who were protesting the Tuesday arrest of the co-mayors Diyarbakir Municipality Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli, Demirtas said the Government was preparing to appoint trustees to local administrations and remove elected officials of the three cities.
Demirtas, a group of HDP parliamentarians, and the crowd were defying a Government ban on gatherings in central Diyabakir.
Turkish authorities imposed the ban on Thursday after launching a probe against the HDP leader with charges of "contempt for the Republic of Turkey," said a Kurdistan24 correspondent there.
The municipal administration of Diyarbakir which is considered the political bastion of Kurdish movement and those of Mardin on the Syrian border and Van on the Iranian border are run by the Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP).
"They know they cannot win the municipalities through elections. Because they tried it. They did everything since 1999 elections. But they could not succeed," added Demirtas who was specifically referring to the Diyarbakir Municipality where Kurdish parties have traditionally won.
Turkish Interior Ministry has previously dismissed and jailed dozens of mayors and in September seized 24 DBP-run municipalities.
Criticizing Turkish leaders' remarks on Sunni Arab self-rule in the Iraqi Islamic State (IS)-held city of Mosul, Demirtas accused the Government of hypocrisy when it came to Kurdish cities in Turkey.
Turkish authorities accuse both Kisanak and Anli of charges related to terrorism and separatism.
The HDP leader who likened Turkey to a state "ruled by the IS" also slammed the Internet shutdown in about a dozen Kurdish provinces since the arrest of Diyarbakir mayors and called for door-to-door popular outreach to people as an alternative to mobilize masses.
Millions of households and businesses, including schools and hospitals across Kurdistan of Turkey have had an on and off two hours Internet access a day since Tuesday.
There has been no official explanation for the outage.
MAYOR SENTENCED TO PRISON
In Siirt, meanwhile, another Kurdish city east of Diyarbakir a Turkish criminal court sentenced the Mayor Tuncer Bakirhan to one year in prison on charges of "propagating for terrorism."
The court sent its decision to the Interior Ministry which was expected to remove Bakirhan, said Kurdistan24 bureau in Diyarbakir.
Editing by Ava Homa
(Siddiq Eren contributed to this report from Diyarbakir.)