In 97 municipalities in Northern Kurdistan, the elected mayors of the Democratic Regions’ Party (Demokratik Bölgeler Partisi, DBP) have been removed from office and replaced by trustees.

The governors appointed by the Turkish Ministry of the Interior have made great efforts over the past two years to destroy all municipal achievements. Monuments were demolished, Kurdish place names and multilingual signs exchanged, women's and cultural centers and women's shelters closed.

In Kızıltepe district in Mardin province, the Kurdish names of three neighborhoods have now been changed by the district governor Ahmet Odabaşı. The signs of the neighborhoods were taken down and replaced with Turkish signs. The neighborhood of Aşitî was renamed as Yenikent, Berçem as Şahkulubey and Medya as Selahattin Eyyubi.

In Lice district in the province of Amed (Diyarbakır), trustee Sinan Başak has set up two clock towers that feature Turkish flags, a map of Turkey and the fascist slogan of the AKP regime "One nation, one fatherland, one state, one flag". A park named after Medeni Yıldırım, who was shot dead by Turkish security forces, was renamed "Park of the Martyrs on 15 July" in relation to the attempted military coup in Turkey.

During the 1990s, banners with the words "How happy is the one who says I'm a Turk” remained hung in many Kurdish cities. These banners have been withdrawn after Kurdish parties took over the local administrations since 2000.