ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Abdullah Zeydan on Friday officially received the mandate to take up his role as mayor of Van, days after his electoral win was temporarily nullified.
“We have passed through a period where the rule of law and justice were suspended, if only for a short time. We thank everyone, especially the people of Van who have shown their support for democracy, the rule of law, and justice,” Zeydan told journalists outside the Van courthouse after receiving the mandate.
Zeydan, who was the candidate of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), got over 55 percent of the votes in Sunday’s election, while the runner-up, Abdulahat Arvas, candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), received 27 percent.
Zeydan’s candidacy, however, had been revoked late on last Friday by a court acting on a last minute request by the justice ministry and the Van branch of the election board handed the win to Arvas.
Protests and demonstrations erupted across the Kurdish-majority southeast in reaction to the move. The Turkish interior ministry announced on Wednesday that it had detained 89 protesters for “demonstrating without permission, shouting praises and supportive slogans” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In defiance of a ban on protests by Van’s governorate, thousands of protesters continued to pour into the streets and were joined by co-chairs of the DEM Party and several politicians from other opposition parties including the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Workers Party of Turkey (TIP).
DEM Party filed an appeal with the election board, which was accepted on Wednesday.
Officially in the role of mayor, Zeydan said he would focus on bringing peace and providing services for Van. “Our geography no longer needs conflict or lawlessness. We all have a responsibility to establish societal peace and ensure a united and honorable life,” he said.
According to preliminary election results, the DEM Party garnered 5.7 percent of the overall votes across the country. In addition to Van, the party won nine other provinces in the southeast.
In the 2019 local elections, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), DEM’s sister party, won eight provinces, only to see dozens of elected pro-Kurdish mayors ousted from office and replaced with state-linked trustees, due to alleged links with the PKK.
