Why Erdogan Removes and Replaces Kurdish Mayors (with Dr. Lisel Hintz)

06/04/24 • 20 min

When we talk about the ‘Kurdish question’ in Turkey, two of the major problems being discussed are authoritarianism and anti-Kurdish racism. Kurdish people face state-sponsored discrimination and violence on the basis of their ethnic identity. They also lack access to meaningful democratic avenues by which to effect political change.

A timely new paper by Dr. Lisel Hintz and Harun Ercan, “Permissive prejudice in localized authoritarian consolidation: evidence from Turkey's municipalities,” looks at how these two dynamics interact, with broader lessons for the struggle for democracy and equality in Turkey and worldwide. The paper is focused on the tactics that the Turkish state uses to crack down on political opposition at the municipal level, looking at the similarities and differences in tactics used against pro-Kurdish mayors and mainstream Turkish opposition mayors.

On this episode of the Kurdish Peace Podcast, KPI Director of Research Meghan Bodette speaks with Dr. Hintz about the findings of the paper, how they explain current developments in Turkish politics, and what lessons there are for those seeking to promote peaceful, pluralist democracy in Turkey and other autocratic contexts.

Previous Episode

Kurdish Local Democracy Stands Strong Despite Repression (with Ceylan Akça)

On March 31st, millions of voters across Turkey went to the polls to elect mayors and municipal councils. For the pro-Kurdish political movement and millions of Kurdish voters, the elections were particularly critical. Local democracy gives Kurds a chance at self-governance and an opportunity to implement policies that would be impossible to put into practice at the national level in Turkey's authoritarian, nationalist political climate.
At the same time, the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made Kurdish local democracy a target of severe repression. Over 75% of voters who supported successful pro-Kurdish candidates in the 2019 local elections were deprived of their elected representation when their municipalities were seized by the state.
On election day, pro-Kurdish parties won back most of those municipalities despite unfree and unfair elections. Now, they're fighting to hold on to their democratic victories.
To learn more about the struggle for local democracy in Kurdish regions and the model it provides for Turkey and the Middle East, KPI Director of Research Meghan Bodette (@_____mjb) speaks with Ceylan Akça (@ceylanakcac), Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP for Diyarbakir.
This episode was recorded on April 3, 2024.