Call for release of Kurdish co-mayors arrested by Turkish regime

THE ARREST of the co-Mayors of the city of Diyarbakır, the capital of the Kurdish region in the south-east of Turkey, has been criticised by Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs spokesperson Seán Crowe TD, who has called for their release.

Turkish police arrested Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Gültan Kışanak, a member of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), and her co-mayor Fırat Anlı in separate incidents last Tuesday.

The pair were remanded for trial on Sunday on charges of working with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Deputy Seán Crowe said he “wholeheartedly” condemned the arrest of the Kurdish political representatives.

“These arrests are part of a co-ordinated Turkish Government crackdown on the political opposition and civil society in Turkey,” he said.

The Sinn Féin Dáil deputy pointed out that more than 20 elected co-mayors are currently imprisoned in Turkey and over 30 removed from their executive roles.

“The anti-democratic policies of the Turkish Government are completely unjust, unacceptable and pushing the country further along the path to a dictatorship,” Seán Crowe said.

◼︎ SINCE the co-mayors’ arrests, Turkish police have detained the editor and a dozen senior staff from the main secularist opposition daily newspaper, Cumhuriyet, a day after 10,000 more civil servants were sacked over alleged links to a reported July coup attempt.