The central executive committee of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has issued a statement on the deposition of the mayors elected a year ago in four Kurdish town halls on Monday morning and called for protest.

In the statement, the HDP points out that the latest "political genocide campaign against our party and the will of the voters" is taking place at a time when all Newroz celebrations have been cancelled out of consideration for the health of the people, and when the HDP-run municipalities are doing their utmost to fight the Corona pandemic. While the whole world is fighting against the pandemic, the usual anti-Kurdish attitude continues to prevail in Turkey.

"We call on the people and all party members to join the daily noise protest at 8 pm at windows and on balconies. We call on all democratic forces to contribute to this protest and to intensify the struggle against the AKP government. The government ignores the rights of the working people during pandemic. It disregards the will of the people and is as dangerous for humanity as the virus," the HDP said.

36 of 65 Kurdish municipalities seized

Early this morning, the democratically elected co-mayors of Batman province and Amed’s (Diyarbakır) Silvan, Lice and Ergani districts have been deposed and replaced by trustees appointed by the government. Silvan Municipality co-mayor Naşide Toprak and Ergani Municipality co-mayor Ahmet Kaya were taken into custody.

Of the 65 municipalities won by the HDP in the local elections on 31 March 2019, 36 have thus been seized by the AKP-MHP government.  In Batman 16 people were arrested during street protests against the seizure of the local administration.