In the “KCK Justice Commission trial,” ongoing since 2011, a Turkish criminal court in the province of Mardin has delivered its verdict. The 44 defendants included Kurdish politicians, religious scholars, and representatives of various communities who, according to the defense, had mediated between feuding families in 2011 to end a long-standing blood feud.
However, the prosecution characterized this activity as part of an alleged structure of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and sought convictions for “membership in an armed organization.” According to the indictment, the accused had carried out “quasi-judicial activities under the name of a justice commission” and had not merely resolved conflicts through traditional means, but had acted “on the basis of orders and instructions.”
The defense lawyers rejected the accusations, arguing that the activities constituted social mediation and reconciliation efforts within the framework of local customs. The aim, they stated, had been to prevent escalating conflicts between families.
41 acquittals, one conviction
The court acquitted 41 of the defendants. Proceedings against two individuals who had since passed away were discontinued. Only Şakir Acar was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for “membership in a terrorist organization.” The decision is not yet legally binding.
KCK trials in Turkey
The wave of repression against alleged members of the KCK—regarded as an umbrella structure of the Kurdish freedom movement—began on 14 April 2009, just one day after the KCK extended the ceasefire declared by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) until 1 July and stated in a declaration that “for the first time, there exists the possibility of resolving the Kurdish question in an environment of ceasefire.” Two weeks earlier, local elections had been held in Turkey, in which the Democratic Society Party (DTP) nearly doubled its number of mayors. Later that same year, the DTP was banned by the Constitutional Court upon the request of the Chief Public Prosecutor due to alleged links to the PKK.
The subsequent “KCK operation” began with the detention of numerous Kurdish politicians and officials of civil society organizations. In the following months, the crackdown expanded in several waves, encompassing nearly all areas of public life: mayors, trade unionists, journalists, human rights defenders, and lawyers were targeted by investigations.
By 2011, according to human rights organizations, nearly 10,000 people had been arrested on allegations of KCK membership. Many defendants were sentenced to multi-year prison terms in lengthy trials. To this day, the proceedings are regarded as one of the most extensive interventions in Kurdish municipal politics and civil society in recent decades. Critics view them as a systematic criminalization of political self-organization structures and a long-term weakening of municipal governance capacities in the Kurdish provinces.
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