A portrait of Ahmet Türk: He said this about Erdoğan just 7 months ago

Following Selahattin Demirtaş’s statement that “The primary interlocutor for the resolution of the Kurdish issue is Mr. Erdoğan,” a similar statement came from Ahmet Türk.

Ahmet Türk, one of the important figures in Kurdish politics, had stated in remarks made before the March 31 elections that the AKP government could solve the Kurdish issue.

Following his statements, Türk, who expressed that he was merely making an assessment, had said that the Republican People's Party (CHP) did not have the infrastructure within the state to solve the Kurdish issue.

Türk had said, “There is now a leader who has taken over all the institutions of the state. When he expresses something, everyone does it, but if the CHP were to attempt such a thing today, they would tear this project to pieces. This is what I tried to explain; I meant, ‘He has power within the state, he can solve it if he wants to.’ I also stated that Erdoğan is the leader who has caused the Kurds the most pain today; it is not something that praises him.”

Most recently, last week in Şanlıurfa, he came together with AKP figures at a peace dinner for the Şenyaşar and Yıldız families and posed for a photo with AKP Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz.

Following the trustee appointment decision made today, Ahmet Türk's words, “The primary interlocutor for the resolution of the Kurdish issue is Mr. Erdoğan,” have returned to the agenda.

It did not go unnoticed that this is not the first time Türk has faced a trustee decision.

Having had his parliamentary membership revoked twice before, Türk has also been removed from his mayoral position twice.

Having entered prison multiple times, Türk has been one of the mediators in resolution processes.

Here is the political history of Ahmet Türk...

The politician, who has been present at every stage of the Kurdish political movement in Turkey, has never been short of party closures, lawsuits, revocation of parliamentary membership, imprisonment, and removal from office in his political life, yet he has also remained one of the first names that comes to mind when the resolution of the Kurdish issue is discussed.

ENTERED PARLIAMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Ahmet Türk took his first step into active politics by being elected as a Mardin deputy from the Democratic Party in 1973.

Türk left the Democratic Party—which was founded by those who fell out with Süleyman Demirel of the Justice Party, the successor to the Democrat Party that was closed by the 1960 coup—and joined the CHP in 1974.

Ahmet Türk, who engaged in politics under the CHP umbrella until 1980, continued his political life with the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) after being arrested and tortured following the coup.

However, after the Halabja Massacre, where Saddam Hussein's poison gas attack in Northern Iraq in 1988 caused the deaths of about 6,000 people and injured thousands, he was expelled from his party along with 6 other deputies who attended a conference in Paris on "Kurdish National Identity and Human Rights."

WAS AMONG THE FOUNDERS OF HEP

Together with the deputies expelled from the SHP, he was among the founders of HEP (People's Labor Party) in 1990, which is accepted as the first legal representative of the Kurdish political movement and started the political tradition that extends to the HDP.

The party entered the 1991 early elections under the SHP umbrella due to the 10 percent threshold. HEP, which was closed after the crisis that occurred when Leyla Zana took her oath in Kurdish, later became the predecessor of ÖZDEP, DEP, HADEP, DEHAP, and the DTP (Democratic Society Party), which was also founded under the co-chairmanship of Ahmet Türk, all of which shared the same fate.

The BDP, which was founded after the DTP was closed, later changed its name, and with the merger of other parties, today's HDP was established.

HE WAS A NAME TRUSTED BY BOTH ÖZAL AND ERDOĞAN IN THE RESOLUTION OF THE KURDISH ISSUE

Ahmet Türk was at the top of the list of names that state officials consulted whenever a solution to the Kurdish issue was sought. He fulfilled the task of conveying the message of the 8th President Turgut Özal in 1993, who was seeking a democratic solution to the problem, to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was then in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

He was also among the effective actors during the resolution process, the foundations of which were laid in 2009 during Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's prime ministry. Türk was one of the two people who went to Imralı to meet with Öcalan on January 3, 2013.

HIS PARLIAMENTARY MEMBERSHIP WAS REVOKED TWICE, AND HE WAS REMOVED FROM MAYORAL OFFICE TWICE

Ahmet Türk, who served as a Mardin deputy for 5 terms under different party umbrellas, had his immunity lifted twice during this period.

In 1994, while he was an independent HEP deputy, his immunity was lifted, and he was subsequently sentenced to 2 years in prison as a result of the trial.

In 2009, while he was the Co-Chairman of the DTP, his parliamentary membership was revoked once again, and he was banned from politics for 5 years.

Ahmet Türk was elected Mayor of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality in 2014 and 2019. His first term ended with his removal from office and arrest via a Statutory Decree (KHK) issued in 2016. Türk, who was detained for nearly 3 months, was released due to health reasons.

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli had also supported the campaign for Ahmet Türk's release with the words, "Türk is 74 years old; considering the humanitarian dimension due to his illness, he should be tried without arrest in a way that allows for his treatment."

An objection was made to Ahmet Türk receiving his certificate of election when he was elected Mayor of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality for the second time in 2019, but the Supreme Election Council (YSK) ruled in favor of the experienced politician and approved Türk's mayorship.

Ahmet Türk's second term as Mayor of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality also ended with his removal from office and lasted approximately 5 months.