Turkish authorities restrict access to eastern district after co-mayor’s prison sentence

Authorities restricted access to eastern Turkey's Kağızman district after Co-Mayor Mehmet Alkan received a six-year, three-month prison sentence. Kağızman’s co-mayors called the sentence a pretext for a trustee appointment.

Saturday February 22 2025 09:21 pm

"We came with an election, we won't leave with a trustee," reads the prostesters' banner at the district municipality.

Duvar English

Turkish authorities on Feb. 21 banned entry and exit from the Kağızman district of eastern Kars province, following a court verdict that sentenced co-mayor Mehmet Alkan to six years, and three months in prison.

Kağızman co-mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party called the sentence a pretext for appointing a trustee and hung a banner on the municipality building reading, “We came through election; we won’t leave by trustee.”

Following the verdict, the Kars Governor’s Office imposed a ten-day ban on protests and events.

Security checkpoints were set up on all roads leading to Kağızman, stopping and turning back those attempting to enter. Officials also blocked members of the DEM Party, including the party’s Kars co-chair, from entering the district.