A common refrain among Turkey watchers these days is that just when you think things can’t any worse, they do. On Oct. 25, Turkish authorities detained Gultan Kisanak, the co-mayor of Diyarbakir, the unofficial capital of Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast region on thinly supported charges of being a member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Her co-mayor Firat Anli was also detained, joining thousands of other Kurdish activists and politicians who are being held for alleged links to the PKK.

The move sparked widespread fury in Diyarbakir, where according to eyewitnesses contacted by Al-Monitor, several thousand demonstrators massed before the Diyarbakir city hall on Oct. 26 demanding the mayors’ release.

Police backed by armored vehicles used pepper gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. At least 25 people, including officials from the largest pro-Kurdish bloc, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), were detained. Blanket Internet outages were reported in Diyarbakir throughout the day, forcing local journalists to travel to the city of Adana some 325 miles southwest of Diyarbakir to file their stories.

The charges against Kisanak range from calling for autonomy for the Kurds to arranging transportation for the coffins of PKK fighters for burial. One veteran journalist who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said, “Locking her up is the equivalent of locking up the prime minister of Turkish Kurdistan, that is how people feel.”