Hakkari is one of the strongholds of the Kurdish freedom struggle and, at the same time, a region where the Turkish state's war policy is implemented most intensively. The province in the extreme south-east of Turkish territory is besieged from all sides and resembles an open prison. Unemployment, poverty, hunger, migration, oppression, death and arrests are the norm. Tribal culture is still widespread and recently the state has been trying to break the unity of the people of Hakkari by instrumentalising the tribes.

The province, whose historical name is Colemêrg, includes the districts of Yüksekova, Çukurca and Şemdinli (Gever, Çelê and Şemzînan). One side of the province borders Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilata Kurdistanê) on Iranian territory and the other side borders Southern Kurdistan (Başûrê Kurdistanê) in Northern Iraq. There are 285,000 people living in the region. There is a strong outflow, almost 70,000 people from Hakkari live in other places. With almost 200,000 eligible voters, Hakkari remains the stronghold of the Kurdish freedom movement. This stance has taken a heavy toll. People from the region have been brutally murdered by state forces in the streets and others along the border. Co-mayors and MPs elected by the people have been arrested and their communities confiscated. 

Targeted by the state at all times

Leyla Güven, who was arrested as co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and taken to Diyarbakır Prison, was elected as an HDP MP in the elections in Hakkari on 24 June 2018. The HDP received 75 per cent of the vote in central Hakkari, 81 per cent in Yüksekova, 64 per cent in Çukurca and 50 per cent in Şemdinli, winning all three parliamentary seats. Due to stolen ballots and votes from abroad, one parliamentary mandate was given to the AKP. Leyla Güven was later taken as a political hostage and put in prison.

In 2015, the AKP and its state also targeted the administration of Hakkari. A trustee was appointed to the HDP-ruled municipality. The elected co-mayors Dilek Hatipoğlu and Nurullah Çiftçi were also arrested and have been held hostage in prison for about eight years.

Despite the arrests and the usurpation by the state, the people of Hakkari once again made their will known in the local elections on 31 March 2019 and elected Cihan Karaman as mayor. The HDP politician, like Hatipoğlu and Çiftçi, was arrested and the will of the people was overturned for the second time.

Destruction through trustee administration

Everyone you talk to in the city is angry at the AKP and its trustees. The government has turned the city into an open prison for about eight years. Despite the AKP's assimilation policies, bans and lawlessness, one hundred percent of the population still speak Kurdish. Hakkari can look back on a 10,000-year-old and deeply rooted tradition. However, no services are offered in Kurdish in the province. The native language of the population is intended to be eliminated through assimilation.

There are no services for women either. Many dirty measures have been and are being taken to confine women in their homes. With the confiscation of the municipalities, communal works were stopped. Projects and services introduced under the HDP were destroyed by the trustees. Many institutions for women, children and youth were closed. Women and young people who worked in these institutions were dismissed. Instead of serving the people, the trustees started to use these projects and facilities to assimilate the Kurdish population and destroy their culture and language. The trustees have ensured that almost the entire city has no access to clean water. The busiest streets and neighbourhoods are littered with rubbish.

City under siege

The entrance to the city is under state blockade. All people and vehicles entering or leaving the city are detained and searched, often for hours. During the road checks and searches, people are insulted and sometimes detained. Ditches and barricades have been erected on all other roads into the city. People are forced to pass through the Depin checkpoint at the entrance to Hakkari.

Trade is prohibited

Although there are border crossings in Yüksekova, Şemdinli and Çukurca, people cannot engage in border trade. Cross-border trade is prohibited. Prohibitions prevail in the province and there are no public services. Many traders have had to close their shops and workplaces. Thousands of people have migrated to the big cities due to unemployment and poverty. As the state has declared plateaus, pastures and mountain villages as security zones and closed them down, people raising livestock in the villages have had to sell their animals. Through this policy of the state, the rural population, the farmers, who used to be producers, have become consumers.

Great hope in the elections

The entire population is affected by the bans imposed by the AKP and its state in Hakkari. Today, Hakkari is eagerly awaiting the elections on 14 May. People are following developments closely and have high hopes for the elections, which could lead to the fall of the Erdogan regime. The fact that the HDP is not even contesting due to the ongoing ban proceedings against it and is instead supporting the Green Left Party does not seem to matter much to the people. "It doesn't matter who the candidates are, if the party chooses them, we will support them," people say. The Green Left Party candidates are young, dynamic, educated and experienced people from the region. The Green Left Party has a good chance of winning all three seats in Hakkari.