DEM Party Mersin MP Ali Bozan said that different laws are applied for Kurdish and Turkish citizens in Turkey and described this situation as "colonial law". Bozan said that this law manifests itself especially in cases such as the appointment of trustees to Kurdish municipalities and failure to intervene in forest fires.

Pressure increased after local elections

After the March 31 local elections, said Bozan, the AKP-MHP government's pressure on the Kurdish people increased. The government, which took a step back as a result of the resistance in Van, arrested the elected co-mayor of Hakkari (Colemêrg) and appointed a trustee in his place. This situation showed that "normalization" policies did not include the Kurdish people.

The state's failure to intervene in the forest fires in Amed and Mardin showed that the oppressive regime would not be limited to the trustees alone. Bozan said that the fires were caused by DEDAŞ’s lack of maintenance and emphasized that the state’s approach to the fires in Kurdistan was different from the fires in western Turkey.

Silence and colonial law

Bozan said that the silence against forest fires in the West of the country is a result of the state's policies towards Kurdistan. Bozan said that this situation is in the subconscious of citizens living in the West, and added that the Turkish state applies a double standard law.

Bozan said that the trustee policies were also a part of the isolation practices against Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, and added that the state's approach to the Kurds became harsher during the periods when the isolation of Öcalan was increased. Bozan stated that the resistance against the trustee coup was also a struggle to end the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan.

Reactions in the West are insufficient

Bozan said that the reactions of the social opposition in Turkey to the usurpation of the people's will in Hakkari (Colemêrg) were important but insufficient, and underlined that the trustee issue is now not only the problem of the Kurds but also the whole of Turkey.

Bozan said that social opposition against the AKP-MHP government should be strengthened and that resistance should be increased both in the parliament and on the streets.