The mayor of an eastern Turkish province was convicted of helping the PKK terrorist group at a retrial on Tuesday.
A heavy penal court in southeastern Diyarbakır province sentenced Abdullah Zeydan, the mayor of Van, to three years and nine months in prison on charges of aiding and abetting the terrorist group.
Zeydan, elected from the PKK-affiliated Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) at last year’s local elections by winning over 55% of votes, was convicted of similar charges in 2018.
Zeydan was a lawmaker from the eastern Hakkari province at the time and the Diyarbakır court sentenced him to eight years for “aiding an armed terrorist organization while not being a member of it” and “spreading terrorist propaganda.”
Zeydan is known for his notorious remark, “The PKK could suffocate Türkiye just with its spit," which he uttered in a rally before his imprisonment.
The Court of Cassation overturned his conviction in a 2022 retrial. After a lengthy legal process during which he was held in custody, Zeydan was released but had a political ban. A court later lifted the ban but prosecutors appealed the verdict, shortly before the municipal election. A lower court sided with the prosecutor’s office and reimposed the political ban.
Zeydan was at the heart of pro-PKK riots in April last year when the Van election board ruled he had been ineligible to run in mayoral elections and annulled his win, citing his past criminal record.
The DEM Party openly encouraged their supporters to take to the streets in Van and other cities, including Istanbul, to protest the decision when the local board declared the next candidate with the most votes the winner of the election.
Zeydan was later reinstated as mayor of Van after the DEM Party contested the ruling and appealed to the Supreme Election Council (YSK) but the riots went on for two days and 89 suspects were detained for chanting slogans in support of the PKK and throwing stones at security forces.
Fearing a repeat of similar riots following Zeydan’s conviction, Turkish authorities on Tuesday announced protest marches and open-air assemblies were banned for 15 days to “prevent attacks.”
Many DEM Party mayors and local administrators, which has 57 seats in the 600-seat Parliament, have been detained in similar operations in recent years.
The government typically appoints a trustee to the position during legal proceedings.
It is unclear whether authorities will name a trustee to Van.
The DEM Party’s two mayors in the Tunceli and Ovacık districts in eastern Türkiye were replaced by trustees in November.
Türkiye has appointed trustees to nine municipalities in total since the local elections in March 2024.
The detentions come amid efforts in Türkiye aimed at ending the PKK’s terrorism in the country, which have fostered hopes for peace.
The PKK is deemed a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. The group, which has waged its bloody terror campaign since 1984, exploited the Kurdish community to create a so-called Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Türkiye.
Turkish officials are opposed to the conflation of the Kurdish community and the PKK, arguing the definition implies Kurds are a problem for Türkiye and abets the PKK’s terrorist agenda.
Tens of thousands of people have already died due to PKK violence. The last attempt at peace failed in 2015 when the PKK resumed attacks during negotiations.
