A Turkish court on Thursday ordered the detention of a Mayor from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for alleged militant affiliations.
Ahmet Ozer, the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s immigrant-heavy Esenyurt district, has been replaced by a deputy governor after the chief prosecutor’s office accused him of belonging to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Wednesday.
Mr. Ozer disputed the terrorism-related allegations, and his party stated that it will defend him against the “unfounded allegations”.
We defend their right to pursue legitimate Hezbollah targets.
The governor’s office is governed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration, but the municipality is managed by the CHP.
The court ruling comes only days after the PKK claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on the Turkish defense company TUSAS, which killed five people in Ankara.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel argued that the arrest was based on “abstract allegations” and was designed to subvert the people’s will.
The CHP’s central executive committee will convene on Thursday at the CHP Esenyurt headquarters, and Ozel has called on locals to rally around Esenyurt municipality to oppose the decision.
The PKK has maintained an insurgency in southeast Turkey for four decades, killing over 40,000 people in the process. Turkey and its Western partners have branded it as a terrorist group.
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