People have been taking to the streets for five days in protest at the usurpation of the municipalities of Mardin, Batman and Halfeti on 4 November and the appointment of trustees by the Ministry of Interior in the place of the democratically elected representatives of the Kurdish people for the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).

In Amed (tr: Diyarbakır), the DEM Party and DBP (Democratic Regions Party) Amed Provincial Organisation and Free Women's Movement (Tevgera Jinen Azad) led a march against the usurpation of municipalities. DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar, co-mayors of municipalities and representatives of civil society organisations participated in the march.

Thousands of people gathered at Şêx Seîd (Dağkapı) Square and marched through the city center behind a banner reading ‘The people’s will cannot be usurped. No Pasaran to the trustees’.  

DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları greeted the resistance of the people of Amed and said, “This resistance will continue until we remove the trustees from these lands. The trustee means a coup, stealing the will of the Kurdish people and all other peoples, usurping the rights of the people. The trustee means stealing the right to elect and be elected from all opposition groups in this country, especially the Kurdish people. The trustee has no place in the constitution. It is an illegal practice against the Constitution as well as international conventions to which Turkey is a party and international law.”

Tülay Hatimoğulları said: “The government is committing a crime by appointing trustees on our political will for the third time. They are giving the people, especially the Kurdish people, the message that they cannot govern themselves. The name of this regime is not democracy with the right to elect and be elected. The name of this regime is authoritarianism and fascism. Fascism, the trustee regime and the usurpation of will have brought all the peoples of Turkey together. In Mardin, all peoples joined hands and defended their will. In Esenyurt, regardless of which political party they belong to, all those who suffer from the trustee regime and claim their right to elect and be elected have come side by side, and we should stand together even more.”

Expressing that the appointment of a trustee to Esenyurt is a blow to the Urban Consensus, Tülay Hatimoğulları further stated the following: “They do not want the Turks to stand with the Kurds, they do not want the peoples to stand side by side. They want to bring everyone who opposes them to their knees by appointing trustees to municipalities. But at the same time, they want to give the resources of the municipalities to a handful of cronies. That is why we reject trustees who steal the money of the municipality, which is the right of the people and should be used for service. In the past two periods, we have laid out the thefts of the trustees in front of the public with documents. Even the Court of Accounts reports mention the thefts of the trustees. Like thieves, gangsters and the mafia, this regime usurps the will of the people in every sense.

Today, President Erdoğan congratulated the judiciary on the appointment of the trustees. They are thus admitting that the trustees were appointed through the judiciary. Our elected co-mayors have no finalised sentence and those who are not the subject of a case are facing fabricated lawsuits. Appointing trustees and dismissing them from office is against the law. The people claim their will, the people do not accept the trustee regime. The judiciary is committing lawlessness, acting as the judiciary of the AKP and MHP. It can never judge Mardin, Batman, Esenyurt and Halfeti. Everyone whose heart is in favour of justice, peace, freedom and democracy must stand up for democracy. We will continue our struggle against the trustees everywhere and in every field. We will increase our struggle until the trustees are removed from these lands.

The issue of isolation and the question of whether there will be a solution to the Kurdish question have been on the agenda lately. The Kurdish question is an issue that deserves to be on the agenda in this country. The Kurdish question is not only a Kurdish question. If we are against the trustees, we have to talk by putting the Kurdish question at the centre. Today, the biggest obstacle to the democratisation of Turkey is that the Kurdish issue has not been resolved through peaceful and democratic methods. As the DEM Party, we have always demanded that the isolation be ended and Mr Öcalan be freed.

We would like to send a clear message from the centre of Amed to Ankara, Turkey and the world once again. We are in favour of a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish question. We are a party that fights for the solution of the Kurdish question with an honourable peace. We have said that we are open to dialogue and negotiation for a solution to this issue. If there is no honourable peace, if there is a desire to liquidate the opposition, we cannot be here, we will not be here. We will continue our democratic resistance and struggle.

We hereby appeal to the Palace, to the two partners; AKP and MHP. Enough is enough, enough of the torment you inflict on the Kurdish people. Stop constantly bringing war and conflict to the agenda in a place where hunger and poverty are deepening, and stop overshadowing hunger and poverty. If there really is to be a resolution process, it can be carried out together. But enough is enough, stop playing games. The games you have set up have been and will continue to be a stumbling block for you. The Kurdish people did not and will not give up their honourable struggle. We will continue to insist on an honourable peace together with the peoples living in this country, especially the Kurdish people. We will continue to call for peace.

Peace is strength, peace is honourable, peace is courageous, peace is effective. Those who fight behind the scenes are afraid of peace. Those who seek personal interests and those who think about the interests of a group of people are afraid of peace. We want peace as peoples. I sincerely believe that the seeds we sow with our hands will flourish in this geography. We will continue our struggle for peace. The struggle against the trustees is also a struggle for peace. Opposing hunger, poverty and femicide is also a peace struggle. Let it be known that we are not withdrawing from any field, we will continue to struggle everywhere as always. We will win by resisting, we will establish honourable peace together.”