Washington Kurdish Institute
May 26, 2020
On May 15 Turkey’s government removed five democratically-elected Kurdish mayors from their positions and replaced them with pro-government loyalists. These removals have sparked outrage among the Kurdish community. Yet these actions by the Turkish government are not shocking or unique as the regime has not only removed and replaced massive amounts of Kurdish elected officials in the past but has also committed a number of atrocities against the Kurds. These actions were taken by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in alliance with the ultra-Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
With the removal of these five Kurdish mayors in Siirt, Iğdır, Kurtalan, Baykan, and Altınova, the total of such mayors that the AKP-MHP have sacked now stands at 45 total since the last local elections on March 31, 2019. During this election, the Kurds, represented by the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), won 65 mayoral seats. The HDP won these victories despite an intense crackdown from the Turkish government, who arrested thousands of HDP members and leaders. In addition, to the 45 mayors who the AKP-MHP removed, there were an additional six Kurdish mayors who were denied their seats by the government over pretextual certification issues. The Turkish government was aware of these certification issues prior to these candidates’ election, but chose to not raise the issue until after these candidates were elected.
In total the Kurds have lost 51 mayoral positions in the Kurdish region. Some of these dismissed mayors have won a large majority of votes in the Kurdish region. For example, in Baglar District, Diyarbakir Province the HDP candidate, Zeyyat Ceylan, won the mayoral election with 70.34% of the votes. Later she was replaced by the AKP candidate who won 25% of votes. Another veteran Kurdish politician, Ahmet Turk who won 208,854 votes (which was 65,794 more votes than the AKP’s candidate garnered) in Mardin was also denied his office by the government’s Supreme Election Board (YSK). The Turkish government has taken similar legal actions against other mayors, including in the predominantly Kurdish provinces, cities, towns, and districts of Turkey.
If you oppose Erdogan, you’re most likely a terrorist
All of these Kurdish mayors and administration officials who have been removed were accused with “membership in a terrorist organization” or with “propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The “terrorist organization” that these individuals are being accused of being members of and/or aiding is the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which was founded in 1979 to fight for Kurdish rights in the country. Yet, not surprisingly, these accusations about these politicians are baseless for a number of reasons.
First of all, these mayors are members of the HDP, a peaceful political entity, and not members of the PKK. Second, under President Erdogan the Turkish government held years of peace negotiations with the same PKK. At the time, these talks were a promising move for the prospects of peace in Turkey before it was ended by President Erdogan. While the pro-Turkish media claim that the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state has claimed the lives of 40,000 people, they do not mention that the majority of the casualties are Kurds. The state’s destruction of Kurdish region has been ongoing for decades under the pretext of fighting the PKK.
In Erdogan’s world it’s not only the PKK, HDP, or Kurdish activists who are terrorists. For example, the followers of the Fethullah Gülen movement have been persecuted and labeled as terrorists as well for their opposition to Erdogan’s authoritarian movement. On many occasions Erdogan and AKP-MHP mouthpieces connect the PKK to the Gulanists, which is a far-fetched connection: the PKK is a secular leftist movement while the Gulanists are a conservative, religious Islamist movement led by Gulan (who is Erdogan’s former mentor).
There are many more “terrorists” in today’s Turkey including journalists, teachers, academics, and Turkish politicians.
The Turkish government is back to the same old habits
The Turkish government has persecuted Kurds and other minorities for generations since the country’s founding. So the recent actions by the AKP-MHP are nothing new in the grand scheme of Turkish history, a history that has involved genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass displacement, and other gross humanitarian violations and atrocities. Thus Erdogan is only continuing the legacy of such actions by Turkey’s government. Yet this Turkish President has taken his anti-Kurdish campaign even outside the borders of Turkey, pursuing anti-Kurdish politics in neighboring Iraq and Syria. Politically, the Kurds have never had a united front to represent them. And political action has also been difficult as the Turkish government has closed down at least five Kurdish political parties between 1990-2010.
When Erdogan first came into power, he had repeatedly criticized these shutdowns of political parties. He successfully presented himself as a new Turkish leader who would finally grant the Kurds their basic rights. He even lured tens of thousands of Kurds to vote for him, especially in the 2007 elections. However, once he built his authoritarian government he allied with the MHP and imposed the same old tactics of the national Turkish governments prior to him. In addition to the removal of Kurdish officials and jailing of many, Kurdish activists, he has successfully occupied the Kurdish region in both Syria and Iraq.
The U.S. blind allegiance to Erdogan and the Turkish government
Despite all that Erdogan has done to the Kurds, other ethnic and religious minorities, and other activists in Turkey and abroad, that has not overly soured U.S. relations with Turkey. Relations between the two countries have not even been soured by Turkey’s recent military incursions that are in direct conflict with U.S. national interests and security.
The Kurdish issue and human rights have never played much of a role in the bureaucratic leadership of U.S foreign policy. For example, while the American people stood largely with the Kurds in Syria against the recent Turkish invasion, U.S. policymakers and key representatives opposed any prevention of this conflict or any punishments against the Turkish government. Even when a sanctions bill against Turkey was overwhelmingly passed by both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Trump administration and Senate leadership ultimately blocked the bill. And yet in the end, Erdogan’s invasion of Syria’s Kurdish region has only empowered the enemies of the U.S.
And Erdogan’s undermining of U.S. national interests and foreign policy agendas doesn’t end there. Regarding Iran, Erdogan’s government has undermined U.S. sanctions against the brutal theocracy and has engaged in billion dollar deals with various sectors. Meanwhile Erdogan has perpetuated a terrible relationship with Greece — violating international laws and stolen natural resources from Turkish occupied Cyprus. In Libya, Erdogan has recruited thousands of Syrian jihadists and sent them to fight in the civil war. Erdogan’s government is another destabilizer in Iraq, where the regime has used Turkish proxies in Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahuddin provinces and manipulated water flows into the country to influence Iraqi government policy.
Erdogan’s intention to control the “Islamic World” has demolished Turkey’s relationships with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, and the rest of the Arab world. In Egypt, his support for the Muslim Brotherhood has deteriorated Turkish-Egyptian relations. The same goes for Tunisia. In Latin America, Erdogan is a supporter of the Dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro and even became a gold broker between the Iranian and the Venezuelan regime. Erdogan has been the main supporter for the Hamas in Palestine against Israel while Turkey has had even worse relations with Israel under Erdogan. Under Erdogan, NATO has been divided and because of Erdogan’s partnership with Russia, NATO has not exercised its main aim. The European Union has derailed Turkey’s attempts to join the EU for many reasons, including over human rights issues.
Despite all the behaviors by his authoritarian regime toward the US and its allies, American policymakers still support the Turkish government, its “NATO” ally. The involvement of Erdogan in many complex issues and invasions has not moved the US to change course while the only concern which the U.S. has seriously raised is Turkey’s purchase of the Russian defense system, the S-400.
The blind acceptance by the U.S. of Turkey’s government and Erdogan’s atrocities has undermined democracy, human rights, and America’s national security. Soon the Kurds will have zero representatives in the local government, and Turkey will be a step closer to becoming a Sunni version of Iran.