Lawyers and members of the parliament gathered in front of the Çağlayan Courthouse in Istanbul today to make a press statement in protest at the AKP government’s illegal seizure of the metropolitan municipalities of Amed, Mardin and Van won by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the local elections of March 31.

The demonstration was also joined by Human Rights Association (IHD) Co-president Eren Keskin, HDP deputies Züleyha Gülüm, Musa Piroğlu, Filiz Kerestecioğlu, Ahmet Şık and Oya Ersoy.

Lawyers and deputies were brutally attacked and dragged on the ground by the police. Journalist Ahmet Şık was among those violently battered by the police.

Speaking on behalf of the lawyers here, Gökmen Yeşil said the following; “We are here, and we will continue to be here for the mothers who reclaim their will by not only casting a vote at the polls but by making their bodies a shield before tanks. I send greetings from Turkey’s western cities to the Kurdish cities. We will shatter this darkness and the will of oppressed peoples will eventually free our municipalities of fascism.”

While HDP MP Züleyha Gülüm accused the government of trying to rule the country with fascism, IHD Co-president Eren Keskin said; “The Şark Islahat Planı (Eastern Reformation Plan) that has been implemented since the very beginning of the Republic era is being perpetuated today. Those resisting will change the world.”