Mülkiye Esmez (born 1975,

Derik Derik () is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,381 km2, and its population is 62,028 (2022). History The town is first mentioned in the late 14th century, however a Roman fort indicates that the area has be ...

, Turkey) is a politician of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) and former Mayor of

in the

Mardin province Mardin Province (; ; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey. Its area is 8,780 km2, and its population is 870,374 (2022). The largest city in the province is Kızıltepe, while the capital Mardin is the second largest ci ...

Political career

She was involved in the foundation of the Derik branch of the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) in 2013 and was elected into the Municipal Council of Mardin in the local election of 2014. In the local elections of 2019 she was elected as the mayor of Derik with over 69 %. After she assumed as a mayor, she complained the state appointed trustee who held the office before her, left the municipality indebted. In November the same year she first detained and later arrested together with two other female mayors of the Mardin province. All three were accused of terror charges in relation to the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK).

Legal prosecution and detention

Having been arrested in Mardin, she was transferred to Tarsus prison in December 2019. In March 2021, the prosecutor Bekir Sahin before the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

asked for a political ban of 5 years for her and 686 other HDP politicians, together with a closure of the HDP before the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mülkiye Esmez Living people 1975 births People from Derik Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians Mayors of places in Turkey