 condemned the appointment of trustees to opposition-held municipalities as a “coup” by the government during a protest in Ankara on Thursday as five more people were arrested in eastern Turkey in connection to recent protests against the practice, the private DHA news agency reported.){kind=link}
Officials from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) condemned the appointment of trustees to opposition-held municipalities as a “coup” by the government during a protest in Ankara on Thursday as five more people were arrested in eastern Turkey in connection to recent protests against the practice, the private DHA news agency reported.
DEM Party co-chairs Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit and Sezai Temelli were among a group of MPs from the party who gathered in front of the interior ministry building in Ankara to make a statement to condemn the use of trustee appointments to replace democratically elected representatives.
The statement came in the wake of the recent removal of three DEM Party-affiliated mayors in Mardin, Batman and Halfeti, who were replaced with government-appointed trustees after terrorism-related probes. Ahmet Özer, the opposition mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was also removed. The CHP had recently allied with the DEM Party to secure that district.
Koçyiğit said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been staging a “coup” against the people’s will since 2016, when the government declared a state of emergency following a failed coup attempt.
The practice of replacing elected mayors accused of terrorist links dates back to a 2016 law enacted after the unsuccessful putsch. The law grants the government authority to dismiss and replace mayors and municipal council members on the basis of terrorism findings, citing national security concerns. Following its implementation, trustees were assigned to 101 municipalities, predominantly those led by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the DEM Party predecessor, which was then the main pro-Kurdish party. Another 151 municipal council members were also dismissed. In the 2019 local elections, only six of the 65 municipalities won by the HDP were governed without trustee appointments.
“Every day, they are committing coup after coup against democracy, the ballot box and the people’s will. We are facing a government mentality that does not respect the ballot box, does not respect the people and disregards the right to vote and be elected,” Koçyiğit said.
She called on opposition parties to unite and collectively defend democracy against the AKP government’s unlawful actions.
“Let’s stand side by side, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder and crush this fascism. … Together, let’s find the way to live in an equal, free and democratic country,” Koçyiğit added.
Temelli made a similar call, saying, “If you want to live in a country where the rule of law prevails, if you are seeking peace, you must oppose [the appointment of] trustees.”
The statement came as five arrests were made of people detained during protests against the appointment of a trustee to the municipality of Batman, according to the Batman Governor’s Office.
The office cited allegations of assault on police officers as the reason for the arrests.
Thirty-three other individuals, who were among more than 250 detained, had already been arrested for taking part in the protests. The interior ministry announced on X on Sunday that they are accused of taking part in “illegal” demonstrations and physically attacking security forces and are under investigation on accusations such as membership in a terrorist organization, disseminating terrorist propaganda, violating the law on meetings and demonstrations and resisting a law enforcement officer.
Three DEM Party-affiliated mayors in addition to Özer have been removed from office for convictions and charges on terrorism-related offenses, from membership in an armed group to disseminating propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has killed thousands and is formally recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.