The co-mayor of the district town of Bahçesaray (in the province of Van), Ayvaz Hazır, was sentenced to three years and eleven months in prison in a political trial. The judiciary had dragged out the proceedings for nine years.
After the DEM party's landslide victory in the local elections on 31 March 2024 in North Kurdistan, the state is looking for reasons to depose co-mayors and replace them with trustees. To do this, long-delayed files are being brought out of the basements of the judiciary. Another such case seems to be happening in Bahçesaray (Miks) in the northern Kurdish province of Van. There, after nine years of protracted proceedings, the city's co-mayor, Ayvaz Hazır (DEM party), was sentenced to three years and eleven months in prison under the politically charges of "membership in a terrorist organization" and "committing crimes in the name of a terrorist organization."
On 24 December 2015, a complaint was filed against Hazır for participating in a protest in 2015. The 4th High Criminal Court of Van passed its verdict on Thursday in the case involving 15 defendants. Now the appointment of a receiver is also looming in Bahçesaray.
In a similar way, receivers were appointed in Colemêrg (Hakkari) immediately after the elections and in Dersim last Friday. At the moment, Êlih (Batman, run by the DEM Party), Mêrdin (Mardin, run by the DEM Party), Xelfetî (Halfeti, run by the DEM Party), Colemêrg (run by the DEM Party), Dersim (Tunceli, run by the DEM Party), Pulur (Ovacık, run by the CHP) and Esenyurt (run by the CHP) have been appointed trustees.
