In many cities in Turkey and North Kurdistan, permanent vigils are taking place against the political coup in Hakkari (Colemêrg). On 3 June, the elected co-mayor of Hakkari, Mehmet Sıddık Akış (DEM party), was arrested and subsequently replaced by a trustee. Since then, permanent vigils have been taking place in many places in North Kurdistan and Turkey and the protests are not abating. On the first day of Eid al-Adha, artist Azad Bedran performed at the vigil in front of the town hall of Amed (Diyarbakir). The co-mayors of the DEM party and several MPs attended the rally. Many people attended the protest and celebrated Eid al-Adha together at the same time.

"Respect the elections"

In her speech, the co-chair of the Amed provincial association of the DEM party, Pınar Sakık Tekin, stated: "The government has once again shown that it is not prepared to tolerate the Kurdish people and is targeting their gains. We will protect our gains together because we won together. We are here, our struggle continues."

Serra Bucak, co-mayor of Amed, said: "A difficult period has begun for us. Our people have expressed their will and we must defend this will. We want the elections to be respected. Our people are here with this conviction and this will. We are a party that believes in a municipal-based administration model. For this reason, our people have elected DEM Party candidates in 79 cities. We have been working hard for eight years to solve the problems caused by the devastation caused by the trustee system.”

Beştaş: “We will not give in”

DEM Party MP Meral Danış Beştaş said: “Every measure has been exceeded in the policy against Kurds. What is the difference between the vote of a person from Amed and that of a person from Yozgat? Brotherhood means equality first and foremost. But we were robbed of the Amed municipality [in the last municipal administration period]. Our co-mayor Selçuk Mızraklı is still in prison. We take this opportunity to greet Selçuk Mızraklı, Selahattin Demirtaş, Leyla Güven, Figen Yüksekdağ and all political prisoners. (…) The AKP-MHP government continues its hostility towards the Kurds with its forced administration policy. But has not understood one thing: this people has not bowed to this policy for 100 years. They are resisting and we will continue to resist. We will never bow. No one can say that there is democracy in this country while the government is resorting to all kinds of violations of the law to secure its own power. The greatest force against this is the people's resistance and solidarity. Amed said 'I am here' at its demonstration last week."

The vigil continued with the concert by Azad Bedran, who said: "The more successful we are, the bigger we become, the more difficult it will be for them. Therefore: Long live your resistance, long live our smile."