Sawt Falasteen - Turkey opposition protests at mayor's arrest for 'PKK ties'

Ahmet Ozer, 64, mayor of the Istanbul district of Esenyurt who belongs to the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was arrested early Wednesday with the government swiftly appointing a trustee to take his place.

Both the CHP and DEM, the main pro-Kurdish party -- which slammed his arrest as a "political coup" -- had called on demonstrators to rally outside Esenyurt town hall.

But the venue had to be changed after police shut down the area and banned demonstrations, with around a thousand protesters gathering at a square several kilometres (miles) away.

"The government-appointed trustee will go but we will stay!" the crowd chanted, waving banners and flags.

The interior ministry said Ozer was arrested for "membership of the PKK terror organisation", with prosecutors alleging he had been in contact with alleged PKK members for 10 years.

The PKK, which since 1984 has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has killed thousands, is blacklisted as a terror organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.

Taken to the Caglayan courthouse on Wednesday night, Ozer denied the charges, the private NTV television reported as several hundred people protested outside, among them Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul's powerful opposition mayor.

Speaking at Thursday's protest, Imamoglu accused the authorities of waging "a dirty game" against Esenyurt.

"What they're doing is nothing more than protecting their power, which is steeped in corruption and lawlessness," he told the crowd, urging the government to respect the will of the people.

- 'An undeniably political dimension' -

A university professor, Ozer was elected in March when opposition candidates won in numerous towns and cities across Turkey, including Istanbul.

He is known for being close to Imamoglu, who is a major figure within CHP and likely to run as a candidate in the 2028 presidential election.

Ankara's opposition CHP mayor Mansur Yavas said there was an "undeniably political dimension" to Ozer's arrest, writing on X that the "vague and abstract charges" against him raised concerns about "democracy and the rule of law".

And CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said the arrest was "based on abstract allegations and statements in a book (Ozer) wrote years ago".

The arrest comes a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed full support for one of his political ally's attempts to reach out to Turkey's Kurds, describing it as a "window of opportunity".

The Turkish government has removed dozens of elected Kurdish mayors in the southeast and replaced them with its own trustees.

Six months ago, the election authority removed the DEM party's elected mayor in the eastern city of Van, sparking furious protests when he was replaced by the losing candidate from Erdogan's AKP party.

As a result of the backlash, the winning candidate was later reinstated.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST