In protest of the detention of the co-mayors of the Diyarbakır Municipality on Tuesday, municipal workers have been refusing to work, paralyzing daily life for residents of the city.
Diyarbakır Co-mayors Gülten Kışanak and Fırat Anlı were detained on terrorism charges on Tuesday evening in a development that caused outrage and sparked protests in the region.
Since the detention of the co-mayors, public buses have not been running in Diyarbakır and garbage has not been collected, leading to a huge garbage pileup and raising concerns about sanitation problems.
Kışanak and Anlı are accused of giving speeches in support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and of promoting more autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, according to a statement from the Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. They are also accused of transporting the bodies of dead militants in official cars and of sparking violent protests.