After the Kurdish sign was covered with a Turkish flag in the Erciş Municipality in Van, one of the over 20 Kurdish municipalities seized by the state recently, today the people passing by the municipality were harassed by the police.

Şiyar Demir was arrested on the day of the trustee appointment because he said “Here is the democracy!” to the police while passing by the municipality building. Demir and HDP and DBP administrators İbrahim Talay, Şaban Elbir and Esat Savcı are still kept in the District Police Headquarters.

Erzurum’s Hınıs municipality, which was similarly seized by the state, has also been turned into a police station. The municipality building was surrounded by barricades and Turkish flags were hanged from the windows. The appointed trustee Bülent Ay ordered riot police units and armored vehicles to blockade and surround the municipality.