Former President of Van, Bekir Kaya was elected mayor of Van in 2009 with a total of 239,861 votes and with a vote rate of 53.50%. In 2011, two earthquakes struck in Van province and coordinating the distribution of aid to around 60,000 homeless people marked his first term as mayor of Van. On June 7, 2012, Kaya was detained and 4 days later arrested and included in what would become the KCK-Trials for "member of a terrorist organization" allegations. In April 2013, he was released pending trial and reinstated as mayor of Van. He was re-elected in the 2014 Turkish local elections with a score of 53.1%. His second term was marked by the solidarity of the Kurdish population of Van with the uprising of the Kurds against Daesh in Kobanî. On January 4, 2016, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He appealed the verdict and the Supreme Court of Appeal found Kaya not guilty in June 2017. But in November 2016, he was charged with neglecting the fire, cleaning and transportation services amid protests. of support for the resistance of the Kurds against Daesh took place in Van and on November 16, 2016, he was removed from his post as mayor of Van and the administration of the municipality of Van was entrusted to an administrator appointed by the ministry of the Interior thereafter. On November 17, Kaya was arrested and faced with several charges. One of the accusations was to have erected a memorial site of the martyr of the PKK in the cemetery of Van. Yet several Kurdish fighters who died in the fight against ISIS in Kobane and who were originally from Van, were buried in the Van cemetery. Another charge against him was the construction of a bridge in Çatak neighborhood. By the prosecution, this was seen as logistical support for the PKK. In September 2018, the previous Supreme Court of Appeal verdict in the KCK trial was overturned and Kaya was sentenced to 8 years and 9 months in prison. In October 2018, he was sentenced to 8 years and 3 additional months for the charges against him since November 2016. He is being held in Silivri prison.

Kaya was trying to improve relations between Armenia and Turkey.