Turkish authorities have arrested 82 people, including the mayor of Kars province, involved in a pro-Kurdish protest six years ago, according to local media.
They are all charged with offences like murder, property damage, robbery, burning the Turkish flag and injuring 326 security officials and 435 citizens.
Among those arrested was the mayor of the eastern city of Kars, Ayhan Bilgen, the daily Hurriyet reported. He is the last democratically elected opposition “big-city” Kurdish mayor to be forcibly removed.
Bilgen was elected mayor in the 2019 local elections representing the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which is the second largest opposition party in Turkey.
The HDP won 65 municipalities, 47 of which were arrested on terrorism charges, and replaced by unelected officials. Former party leader Selahattin Demirtaş has been in prison since 2016, along with 12 deputies, despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. The ousting of Kurdish mayors has been red flagged by various international human rights organisations as a violation of human rights.
