On 4 November, a so-called municipal coup took place in three Kurdish cities. The co-mayors of Batman (Êlih), Mardin (Mêrdîn) and Halfeti (Xelfetî) were deposed by the AKP-MHP regime and replaced by government-appointed trustees.

The co-mayor of Halfeti, Mehmet Karayılan (DEM party), talked to ANF about the regime's actions and the prospects for resistance against them.

Halfeti is a district town of strategic importance and, as the home of Abdullah Öcalan, also has significant symbolic value. It is striking that a trustee was appointed to Halfeti after the leader of the MHP, Devlet Bahçeli, a member of the coalition government with the AKP, had said that Öcalan should speak in parliament? Do you see a connection?

It is important to note that this is not just about Halfeti. For three terms, the will of the Kurdish people has been trampled on by trustees. So the latest appointment of trustees in three cities is a strategic goal. Hezbollah was organized in Batman in the 1990s and the AKP and HÜDA-PAR [the political arm of Hezbollah] are making great efforts to intimidate the population here. Nevertheless, Gülistan Sönük was elected co-mayor with a large share of the vote. I think the trustee was appointed by the system in Batman because it was unable to accept this defeat. In Mardin, Ahmet Türk, a very important Kurdish politician, a long-standing MP who held both the general chairmanship and the co-chairmanship, was elected co-mayor. The appointment of the trustee here is obviously intended to attack Kurdish politics also at a symbolic level.

Halfeti is the place where Mr Öcalan was born. It is also a district where Turks and Kurds live together. Therefore, it is in an important and strategic location. Here, the appointment of a trustee goes against the model of fraternal coexistence, in my opinion.

You came into office with the local elections held on 31 March, and built service structures. With the appointment of the trustee, these services were stopped. What do you think about this?

When we came into office, the situation in Halfeti naturally relaxed. This affected even the police and the military police. Because the trustee had built up a criminal network in Halfeti and established complete control over the bureaucracy. Land sales and speculation were at the highest level; communal land and communal properties, which actually belong to the people, were sold off and pastures destroyed. Halfeti is a multicultural and multi-ethnic region. But the trustee administration deepened polarization, corruption increased and drugs became widespread. I also see a connection with the strategic importance of Halfeti as Mr. Öcalan's hometown. But our people supported us. Immediately after the election, we began to offer the same services to everyone, regardless of whether they voted for or against us. We held meetings with the shop owners and created a city administration based on participation. When a new trustee was appointed, the first thing he did was cut down the mulberry tree opposite the town hall that had provided us all with shade. He deleted the Kurdish names from the city administration's social media accounts and closed the city administration building. Not just to us, but also to his own employees and the entire people.

What would you like to tell the people of Halfeti?

I would like to respectfully greet all those people who have not left our city council alone since the coup of 4 November, as well as those who have defended their will, and all those who cannot be with us physically but condemn the trustees. We will not accept this coup against our will and will continue to resist. We invite all our people to march to the city hall and defend their will.