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Turkish state removes 5 more democratically elected mayors, Peoples Democratic Party warns

TURKEY’S opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) warned at the weekend of a coup against democracy after five more elected mayors were stripped of office.

Party co-leader Mithat Sancar claimed that while government speakers have been peddling rumours of an impending military coup, they were “pursuing coup plans themselves” after “usurping the Igdir, Siirt, Kurtalan, Baykan and Altinova municipalities.”

He said that Friday’s replacement of the elected officials with pro-government trustees “constitutes a disavowal of democracy, ignores the will of the people and diminishes society’s faith in democracy and co-existence.”

The latest operation means that 45 out of 65 HDP-run municipalities have had their mayors removed on trumped-up terrorism charges since local elections last March.

A further six were not allowed to take office despite being elected, bringing the total to 51. According to the HDP, at least 21 of the mayors remain incarcerated.

The party has previously warned of a “political genocide” against Turkey’s sizeable Kurdish population.

More than 15,000 HDP members and activists have been detained since 2015, with 6,000 receiving jail sentences, according to the party.

At least 200 elected officials and seven former HDP MPs are behind bars, including former party co-chairs Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas.

“The government’s putschist practice is implemented in a chain reaction stretched out over time,” Mr Sancar said.

The latest operation took place on Kurdish Language Day, when culture and tradition are celebrated.

Kurds were banned from speaking their own language under the Turkish state’s assimilation policy, so its practice is seen as an act of resistance as well as crucial to keeping the language alive.

HDP warned that the Turkish state has not abandoned its “evil anti-Kurdish policies” despite the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Mersin MP Fatma Kurtulan warned that while the world is focused on stopping the spread of the virus, “the government is concerned with how it can suppress the Kurds and the HDP.”

Mr Sancar called for support from the international community and all democratic forces in Turkey.

“Democracy for the whole country, peace in Turkey and the region cannot be left for Kurds to achieve alone,” he said.

HDP said that it was engaged in a fight against two viruses: “Covid-19 and racist authoritarianism against the Kurds and their democratic will, both being severe public health issues.”

It called on the international community along with “sister parties and all friends of democracy, the HDP, and the Kurds to raise their voice and take action against these racist policies of the Turkish government, which is trying to establish the trustee regime as the new normal in the country.”

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