Ahmet Türk Transferred to Elazığ Prison from Silivri

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Jailed pending trial, former Mardin Co-Mayor Ahmet Türk has been transferred to Elazığ Prison Type T from Silivri Prison where he was being kept.

Türk’s attorneys had requested that Türk be transferred to Diyarbakır, which is close to Mardin where his trials will be heard.

Türk is expected to see board of health due to his medical problems on Wednesday (January 18).

Diyarbakır Metropolitan Co-Mayor Fırat Anlı, who was also discharged from his position after being arrested, was transferred to Elazığ Prison from Kocaeli Kandıra Prison.

Following a trustee appointment to Mardin Metropolitan Municipality on November 17, 2016, Ahmet Türk was discharged from his position.

After being detained on November 21, 2016, Türk was sent to court for arrest on November 24 and arrested on the same day.

About Ahmet Türk

Ahmet Türk was born in Mardin in 1942. His elder brother, deputy Abdürrahim Türk, was murdered in 1954. He was elected Mardin MP from the Democratic Party (DEP) in 1973, before resigning and joining the Republican People's Party (CHP).

Türk was arrested in the wake of September 12, 1980 coup. He was severely tortured in Diyarbakır Prison No. 5.

In the years after the coup, Türk held office as a member of various left parties. He was one of the founding members of the People's Labor Party (HEP), along with six other MPs who were expelled from the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP). The HEP was closed by order of the Constitutional Court on July 14, 1993.

HEP MPs' parliamentary immunity was lifted on March 2, 1994, and they were subsequently arrested. As a result, Türk was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Türkcontinued his political career in People's Democratic Party (HADEP) and Democratic People's Party (DEHAP).He returned to politics in 2005 with the establishment of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). He was elected co-chair of the party with Aysel Tuğluk.He entered parliament as independent Mardin MP in the July 22, 2007 elections.

On January 3, 2013, Ahmet Türk and Ayla Ata, started to meet with the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan.

Türk was elected Mardin Metropolitan co-Mayor on March 30, 2014.

A lawsuit was filed against Türk in January 2016, demanding a jail sentence of 7 to 18 years on charges of "being a member of an armed organization", "propagandizing for an armed terror organization", "opposing Law on Rally and Demonstration".

Türk was detained on November 21, after being relieved of his Mardin Co-Mayorship post by the Ministry of Interior on November 17.

 (EKN/TK)