Democratic Regions' Party (DBP) municipalities are among the first targets of the AKP government’s genocidal policies. Currently, 21 co-mayors are arrested, 31 co-mayors are suspended, and 8 co-mayors cannot serve due to the search warrants issued against them. The AKP government has intensified its attacks on women and the Serhad region, and uses appointed trustees to target DBP municipalities. The DBP and civilians resist AKP attacks and call upon everyone to stand up against them.

DBP municipalities are among the first targets of the AKP government’s genocidal war in Kurdistan. In response to the DBP’s resistance, the government now plans to appoint trustees to DBP municipalities.

DBP HAS NOT TAKEN A STEP BACK

People responded to the genocidal attacks of Turkish state forces, which had begun in the summer of 2015, with a declaration of self-administration. The AKP government therewith launched an all-out war against self-administration areas and deployed tens of thousands of police and soldiers. AKP now targets the leading actor of self-administration areas; the DBP which has not taken a step back in the face of arrests, and doubled its members. Tens of co-mayors have been arrested and/or removed from their positions since August, 2015, and 8 co-mayors cannot serve due to the search warrants issued against them. Hundreds of DBP municipal workers and council members have also been arrested and/or removed from their positions since 2015. DBP Local Governments Co-President Çimen Işık has also been arrested recently.

CO-MAYORS TARGETED

36 co-mayors have been detained or arrested since the AKP government’s political genocide operations against DBP municipalities began in the summer of 2015. As many as 21 Co-mayors are in prison and 8 others cannot serve due to the search warrants issued against them. The detained and arrested co-mayors have been removed from their positions.

Municipal council members are also targeted during the AKP’s political genocide operations, and 56 DBP municipal council members have been detained or arrested so far. 38 of these council members are currently in prison, 36 of whom were removed from their positions. 7 municipal council members cannot serve due to the search warrants issued against them.

Municipal workers have also been targeted, and 15 workers have been arrested so far. 10 of these workers are from Şırnak Municipality, 2 from Van Municipality, and 1 each from Hakkari, Iğdır and Ağrı Municipalities have been arrested so far.

FOUR MUNICIPALITIES HAVE BEEN ATTACKED

The co-mayors of Şırnak, Hakkari, Van and Iğdır have been detained, arrested or removed from duty during the AKP’s political genocide operations targeting DBP municipalities. The woman co-mayors of Batman and Iğdır municipalities were detained and later removed from their positions, and the woman co-mayor of Şırnak Municipality cannot serve due to the search warrants issued against her. Van Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Bekir Kaya is among the co-mayors prosecuted by the state.

ATTACKS INTENSIFY IN SERHAD REGION

Municipalities in Serhad, where AKP received heavy blows during the last local elections, are the prime targets of the ongoing operations of political genocide. Nearly 20 co-mayors, municipal council members and workers from the Serhad region have been detained, arrested and/or removed from their positions so far.

WOMEN TARGETED ONCE AGAIN

The AKP government’s political genocide operations also target woman co-mayors and municipal council members. 12 female co-mayors including Hakkari Co-Mayor Dilek Hatipoğlu have been arrested so far, 17 others have been detained, and 5 more have been targeted by search warrants. Also, 11 female municipal council members have been arrested, 17 have been removed from their positions and a search warrant has been issued against one.

DBP Party Assembly member Sêvê Demir had been murdered, and DBP Local Governments Co-President Çimen Işık alongside 3 other female members of DBP were arrested recently.

AKP’S APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEES WILL NOT SUCCEED

In response to the resistance of DBP municipalities, the AKP government now plans to appoint trustees to the municipalities and plans to take control of all of these institutions through an appointment of trustees. People condemn the government’s plans and announce that appointed trustees would not be recognized or allowed to operate in Kurdistan. PKK Executive Committee member Murat Karayılan recently stated that the appointed trustees would be targeted by the PKK, and it seems impossible for the AKP government to take over the will of Kurdistan’s people and govern municipalities through appointed trustees.