Anti-PKK operations lead to detention of Kurdish mayors

The Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor's Office started operations early yesterday in 11 provinces: Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Hakkari, Tunceli, Batman, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak and Van. So far 33 people have been detained in the fifth continuing operation against the group.

Officials said the detainees are mostly KCK administrators. Among the detainees are Batman Mayor Necdet Atalay, Siirt Mayor Selim Sadak, Şırnak's Cizre town Mayor Aydın Budak, Diyarbakır's Kayapınar Mayor Zülküf Karatekin, Sur Mayor Abdullah Demirbaş, Çınar Mayor Ahmet Cengiz, Viranşehir Mayor Leyla Güven, Kızıltepe Mayor Ferhan Türk, former Dicle Mayor Abdullah Akengin, Diyarbakır Deputy Mayor Ali Şimşek, now defunct Democratic Society Party's (DTP) Provincial Chairman Fırat Anlı and Human Rights Association (İHD) Vice President and Diyarbakır branch head Muharrem Erbey.

Hatip Dicle, who was among the group of people from the Democratic Society Congress asking for autonomy in Diyarbakır, was also detained in the operation.

Meanwhile, former DTP deputies who are now under the newly formed Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) gathered at the BDP headquarters in Ankara. They claimed that the operation was conducted in order to eliminate Kurds from politics. Former DTP Bitlis deputy Nezir Karabaş, Tunceli deputy Şerafettin Halis and Muş deputy Sırrı Sakık went to the party headquarters following the news about the operation.

Police detained dozens of former members of banned pro-Kurdish DTP, including several mayors, in the Southeast.

At the entrance to the building Karabaş said, “This is not a KCK operation but an operation to eliminate Kurds from politics.”

Former head of the DTP, Ahmet Türk, who also went to the headquarters of the BDP, said that he found out about the operations from the news. “An announcement will come from the BDP members. The detained people are our friends who have been involved in democratic politics,” he said.

During his health check at the court, Kayapınar Mayor Karatekin shouted, “All Diyarbakır is KCK. You will not be able to finish the job by detaining me. You need to detain all the people of Diyarbakır.”

In the meantime, a group of workers from the Mardin Kızıltepe Municipality started a sit-in protest in front of the building. The municipality workers also hung two black flags on the building to condemn the detentions. They said they will continue their protest until 1 p.m. today.

Deputy Mayor Şerife Alp reminded people that one of the detainees was Mayor Türk and added that he had been elected by 78 percent of the vote. “They confiscated mobile phones and computers during the police raid. As members of the municipal assembly, we are all behind our mayor. We will express our reaction democratically,” she said.

Akın Birdal, an independent deputy from Diyarbakır, reacted to the operation by saying, “People’s freedom of choice has been detained.”

He also said that the timing of the operation was not a coincidence. “It’s an operation to change the agenda. It cuts the Kurdish initiative, peace and democratic solutions short. It’s a matter of concern,” he said. “It’s an operation which fails one’s hopes in the New Year.”

İHD Chairman Öztürk Türkdoğan issued a press release in İstanbul after the detention of more than 30 people in simultaneous operations in several Turkish provinces against the KCK/TM, an organization accused of functioning as the urban arm of the terrorist PKK.

Another issue Birdal raised was that whether or not the operation was done “with the consent of the government, outside the consent of the government or despite the government.”

Some gov’t advisors should at least visit Diyarbakır once

On a similar note, the head of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, Emin Aktar, said that the judiciary is trying to shape politics.

“Some people advise the government what to do. They tell the government that if some people are arrested then everything will be all right and pro-Kurdish politics will be shaped according to the wishes of the government. But those advisers should come to Diyarbakır once in their life, observe how things are here and reconsider their advisors’ advice after seeing the realities,” he said.

Hamit Geylani, an independent deputy from Hakkari, said that the new party’s steps in democracy and peace have been obstructed in reference to the establishment of the BDP to replace DTP. “Operations are a blow to democracy. They show that the opening was closed,” he said referring to the government’s democracy initiative to provide more rights and freedoms to people including the Kurds.

The harshest criticism of the operation came from Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir who said that they should not be classified as “doves and eagles.”

“Those who are scared of being unseated from their positions as mayors and deputies are despicable,” he said. “Whatever laws that our 16 friends under detention transgressed, we did the same.” On the other hand, Sedat Laçiner, a senior analyst at the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/USAK), said that the operations should continue because the KCK/TM is the obstacle in front of the democratic initiative.

“The operations should continue to eliminate elements of the PKK. The KCK/TM has not been active in the provinces that were targeted by operations before,” he added.

Indictment details KCK/TM structure

The indictment about structure the of the KCK/TM prepared in May this year indicated that the KCK/TM carries out judiciary actions against some mayors who do not act in line with the KCK’s views.

The illegal organization also has also “constitution” which talks about plans regarding a “Democratic Republic” and “Free Municipalities.”

According to the indictment, the PKK’s European representative, Sabri Ok, who is known as “Amed,” had a phone conversation with Diyarbakır Mayor Baydemir asking him a favor.

KCK/TM members would pay frequent visits to the PKK camps in Kandil and share their observations with their members, the indictment stated. When the KCK/TM members talked about the PKK they used terms like “organization” and “movement.” And when they referred to the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, they used the expression “leadership.”

The indictment also indicated that the KCK/TM takes orders from one of the senior PKK leaders, Murat Karayılan, who allegedly said, “Try to have the Kurdish people pour out on streets and demand their rights.”

Sources said the KCK was restructured following an operation into the group on April 14 and they started to act upon Öcalan’s expression that his prison cell was too restrictive. Then street demonstrations followed in which four people died. During the street demonstrations security forces listened to the phone conversations of the KCK members resulting in yesterday’s operations.