A mayor from Türkiye's main opposition party was detained Wednesday on suspicion of being a member of a banned Kurdish militant group, state-run media reported.
Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was arrested by anti-terrorist police over alleged connections to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The arrest comes as Türkiye is debating a tentative peace process to end a 40-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.
Ozer, 64, is a former academic originally from Van in eastern Türkiye. He was elected mayor of Esenyurt, a western suburb on Istanbul’s European side, in March local elections.
The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said an investigation showed Ozer had maintained contacts with PKK figures for more than 10 years.
His home, vehicle and office in the municipality were searched early Wednesday as part of the investigation.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel condemned the arrest as “the ugly game, the big conspiracy” and linked it to recent political developments.
“The treatment of a scientist, opinion leader and politician who was elected with the great favor of the voters of Esenyurt ... is unfair and the allegations are baseless,” he said on social media, The AP reported.
Politicians and members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish movement have frequently been targeted over alleged links to the PKK, which is considered a terror organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union.
Legislators have been stripped of their parliamentary seats and mayors removed from office. Several lawmakers as well of thousands of party members have been jailed on terror-related charges since 2016.
Other opposition parties have been largely unscathed but the CHP metropolitan mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is currently appealing a prison sentence and political ban imposed by a court last December for “insulting” members of Türkiye's election board in 2019.
