On Monday, Turkey dismissed three elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish party due to terrorism-related accusations and replaced them with officials appointed by the state, according to the Interior Ministry. 

This decision follows the recent arrest and removal of a mayor from the main opposition party over suspected connections to a banned Kurdish militant group. Many view this as a sign that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is becoming more strict in its approach to the opposition. It also calls into question the chances of a tentative new peace attempt to put an end to a 40-year conflict between the state and the militant group that has killed tens of thousands of people.

According to an Interior Ministry statement, the mayors of the predominantly Kurdish provincial capitals of Mardin and Batman, as well as the district mayor for Halfeti in Sanliurfa province, were removed from office due to their prior convictions or ongoing trials and investigations for possible ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. As the third largest party represented in Parliament, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, is represented by the mayor. Local elections were held in March, and they were elected to office.

The leader of the Erdogan-aligned far-right nationalist party hinted last month that the jailed leader of the PKK might be eligible for parole if he abstains from violence and dissolves his group. His remarks had provoked debate and conjecture regarding a possible peace initiative. The head of the main opposition party in Turkey, the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, called the dismissal of the mayors "a coup" and charged Erdogan with occupying "municipalities" that he was unable to win in the elections.

Politicians and members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish movement have continuously been accused of having connections to the PKK, which Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union label as a terrorist organisation. Mayors have been ousted from office, and lawmakers have lost their seats in parliament. Since 2016, thousands of party members and several lawmakers have been imprisoned on terror-related charges. “We will not step back from our struggle for democracy, peace and freedom,” Ahmet Turk, the ousted mayor of Mardin, wrote on the social platform X. “We will not allow the usurpation of the people’s will.”