Enlarge image
Protests in support of Zeydan in Van, eastern Turkey
Photo: Metin Yoksu / EPA
Following protests, Turkey's supreme electoral authority has reversed its decision to exclude a pro-Kurdish politician from his mayoralty. The authority gave DEM politician Abdullah Zeydan the mandate for the mayor's office in Van in eastern Turkey, thereby upholding his party's objection, the state news agency Anadolu reported.
Zeydan was elected mayor on Sunday in the Turkish local elections in Van with 55 percent. However, according to his party, he was refused the certificate of appointment. The local electoral authority justified its decision by saying that Zeydan had a criminal record and therefore should not have stood for election, the state news agency Anadolu reported.
AKP candidate should become mayor
The electoral authorities had approved Zeydan as a candidate in the election on Sunday weeks ago. Instead of Zeydan, the second-place candidate from the AKP, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's party, should be appointed mayor. According to preliminary results, this reached around 27 percent in Van.
The DEM party, for which Zeydan ran, objected to the decision. People protested against the decision in many Turkish cities, also because the incident was reminiscent of the dismissals of pro-Kurdish local politicians in the past. In the 2019 local elections, the pro-Kurdish party under the name HDP won 65 mayoral positions - but the government in Ankara had the majority of politicians removed from office due to terrorism allegations and replaced by receivers.
col/dpa