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The Grand Turk
Turkish court rules continuation of Kurdish mayor’s detention in first hearing
2019-12-26
[Rudaw] A Ottoman Turkish court tried a jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
Kurdish mayor Wednesday after he spent months in detention awaiting trial. The court ruled to continue his imprisonment.

Selcuk Mizrakli was elected mayor of the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir in southeast The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
in March 2019, running on the ticket of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

He and two other HDP mayors were removed from office on August 19 for their alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK is an armed Kurdish separatist group which has struggled against Turkey for decades for the cultural and political rights of Kurds in Turkey. The Ottoman Turkish government, along with several other NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
countries, considers the PKK to be a terrorist organization.

After being removed from office in August, Mayor Mizrakli was detained by Ottoman Turkish authorities on October 21. His first hearing was held on Wednesday.

The removed mayor is facing 7.5 to 15 years in prison. Charges against him include "being a member of a terrorist organization" and exploiting his public budget in favor of the PKK.

Mizrakli attended the trial from jail via a government video conference system called SEGBIS, but his lawyers and a number of HDP officials were present in the courtroom, according to independent news outlet Bianet.

The court decided to keep Mizrakli in jail until his next hearing on February 10, 2020.

HDP co-chair Sezai Temelli claimed in a tweet that "slanders and lies" against Mizrakli were heard in the trial. "This decision is the display of a printed instruction. There is no justice in the courtroom."

On Monday, Ottoman Turkish authorities arrested Feyme Buluttekin, the HDP mayor for the central district of Sur in Diyarbakir, for terror-related charges after temporarily suspending her for three days.

Founded in 2012, the HDP is accused by Ankara of being the political wing of the PKK.

So far, out of 65 HDP mayors, over 30 have been removed from office since local elections in March, and several of them have been arrested. Most of these arrestees have not been tried yet.

Additionally, 14 HDP candidates who won election have not been given official certification of their win by the electoral commission, according to a November report by the Diyarbakir office of the Human Rights Association (IHD).

Following a failed coup attempt in July 2016, blamed on Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
’s former ally Fethullah Gülen
... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world. Gülen and Erdogan used to be really good friends, but only one of them could be sultan, and Gülen lost...
, Ottoman Turkish security forces cracked down on dissidents including the HDP, despite the party’s condemnation of the attempted coup.

The HDP has referred to the pro-government administrators who replace HDP mayors after their removal as a "Trustee Regime," stating in a recent report, "We codify the trustees' appointments as a continuation of the denial policy against the Kurds for hundreds of years."
Related:
Selcuk Mizrakli: 2019-10-22 Turkey detains three pro-Kurdish party mayors over 'terror' links
Selcuk Mizrakli: 2019-04-18 Opposition party’s win in Istanbul officially confirmed
Selcuk Mizrakli: 2019-04-18 HDP mayor for Diyarbakir finally certified after cleared in investigation
Related:
Diyarbakir: 2019-12-24 HDP mayor of a key Kurdish town in southeast Turkey arrested
Diyarbakir: 2019-11-19 Top Armenian official in Diyarbakir slams Turkish gov't for endangering his community’s survival
Diyarbakir: 2019-11-09 Turkey announces new operation against PKK in eastern provinces
Related:
HDP: 2019-12-24 HDP mayor of a key Kurdish town in southeast Turkey arrested
HDP: 2019-12-10 BOMBSHELL: FBI ‘Altered' Evidence That Falsely Cast Carter Page As Russian Spy, Report Says
HDP: 2019-12-03 Obama panicking about his legacy? Advises Left to pick any Democrat
Related:
Sezai Temelli: 2019-10-17 Turkey detains nearly 200 for opposing Syria operation: Report
Sezai Temelli: 2019-10-11 Turkish police investigate Kurdish leaders, fire water cannon at protesters
Sezai Temelli: 2019-03-19 Clashes after Kurdish prisoner suicide in Turkish jail
Related:
Sur: 2019-12-25 WSJ Editorial Board: Robert Mueller Should Have to Answer for His Trump Dossier Dodge
Sur: 2019-12-25 Turkish Observation Post in al-Surman or A Base for Terrorists?
Sur: 2019-12-25 Jim Comey's damaging legacy at the FBI must be undone
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