On 15 October, the AKP regime appointed a trustee to the municipality of Van’s Erçiş district and imprisoned the democratically elected co-mayor Yıldız Çetin. The politician was first transferred to the F-Type prison in the Van province. On 11 December, she was transferred to the T-type prison in Osmaniye, 800 kilometers away. During the whole twelve-hour transport, Çetin's hands remained handcuffed to her back.

The co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of Erciş, Şakir Asıl, reports that the transfer took place without informing her lawyer.

Yıldız Çetin and her male counterpart Mahmut Pala were elected by a large majority on 31 March as co-mayors of Erçiş. Pala, however, was unable to take up his mandate due to his dismissal from public service under a statutory decree.

Asıl tells the following about Yıldız Çetin's term of office: "She has started very beautiful, concrete and big works within a very short time. However, she was arrested after four months in office on the basis of flimsy charges. Our co-mayor remained in custody for eight days. During this time they tried to find evidence, but nothing came up. She wasn't asked a single question about the organization which she is accused being a member of, or the city administration."

Asıl describes the transfer of the co-mayor in handcuffs as part of a systematic repression: "The work of our co-mayor and the HDP's successes in the region and throughout Turkey are intolerable for the state. This anger is directed particularly at female co-mayors. We see it that way because it is obvious that the system is directed against women and especially those who are active in the HDP. Their intolerance has long left the boundaries of the law."