Election Board Reinstates Pro-Kurdish Mayoral Winner in Turkey
The election authority in Turkey has reinstated the pro-Kurdish mayoral election winner in Van, eastern Turkey, after clashes erupted due to the annulment of his victory.
The Supreme Election Board overturned the decision made by the regional election commission, restoring Abdullah Zeydan, the candidate of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM).
This reversal is seen as another victory for the Turkish opposition following the recent local elections, which weakened President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) after their previous successes in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Zeydan secured over 55% of the vote in the municipal elections on Sunday, but the regional electoral commission disqualified him due to a prior conviction. They awarded the mayoral seat to an AKP candidate who had won 27% of the vote.
Zeydan was previously imprisoned in 2016 for criticizing the Turkish army's actions against Kurdish fighters and was released in 2022.
The removal sparked violent protests, resulting in 89 detentions for unauthorized rallies and support for the PKK. Despite accusations of links to the PKK, DEM, Zeydan's party, appealed to YSK, which reinstated him with a majority decision. Erdogan's government has a history of replacing elected pro-Kurdish mayors with state-appointed trustees.
Apart from Van, DEM also secured mayorships in other large towns in the Kurdish-majority southeast. Before the decision, Istanbul's mayor Imamoglu criticized the events in Van as a significant deviation.
