Ahmet Özer. A Kurd from Van. An academic. He was elected mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district from the CHP in the 2024 local elections. He also holds the distinction of being the first CHP mayor to be arrested and replaced by a state-appointed trustee.
Özer was detained over the electoral alliance with the DEM Party, dubbed the “city consensus” at the time. His arrest came precisely at the moment when MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli floated the idea of Abdullah Öcalan addressing parliament, effectively reopening the door to a new peace process. Özer spent 375 days in prison before being released pending trial. Upon his release, he first traveled to his hometown Van — and then paid a visit to Bahçeli at the MHP headquarters.
FULL SUPPORT FOR THE PROCESS
Speaking to journalist Cansu Çamlıbel after his meeting with Bahçeli, Özer says he supports the process “without ifs or buts” and that, this time, he genuinely believes peace is possible. He recounts telling Bahçeli of his discomfort with the judicial operations targeting CHP figures, particularly Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and shares his impression that Bahçeli favors a softer political climate on this front. Responding to questions about why the CHP has not sent a representative to the İmralı delegation despite taking part in the parliamentary commission, Özer stresses that he himself would be willing to visit İmralı and meet Öcalan if necessary. Quoting CHP Chair Özgür Özel that the party remains in the commission and believes in resolving the Kurdish issue, Özer delivers a clear message: the CHP must have a seat at the peace talks.
TURKEY’S MOST POPULOUS DISTRICT WITH LARGEST KURDISH POPULATION
With an official population nearing one million, Esenyurt is Turkey’s most populous district — and also the one with the largest Kurdish population. According to Özer, half of Esenyurt’s residents are Kurdish. That’s the basis on which Özer signals his expectation of an active role or roles in the peace process if such positions emerge. Indeed, one of the grounds for his arrest was that his name had been mentioned by Öcalan in a conversation during the previous peace process. As an academic, Özer also points to his many books on reaching Kurdish peace, suggesting he anticipates a more prominent role in the period ahead.
INSISTENCE ON CHP AND DEM
Özer’s concern is a potential derailment — fueled in part by discontent within the party base — that could ultimately push the CHP out of the peace table. This is why he insists, unequivocally, that the CHP must remain at the table and that no rupture should emerge between the CHP and the DEM Party, as hinted at in Özgür Özel’s quickly retracted “Stockholm syndrome” remark. He seems to see his place as playing a role in keeping this delicate balance.
As long as CHP mayors remain imprisoned and trials begin, Özer is bound to face resistance from within his own party. Yet Özer is a resilient Kurdish scholar. The longer he can keep the CHP seated at the peace table, the more this can be counted as his success as much as the party leadership’s. And if he manages to ensure that the CHP never leaves the table at all, there is little doubt Özer would say: “Now, even if I were to die, I would have no regrets.”
