The Turkish police used tear gas against demonstrators protesting against the deposition of the elected mayors in Iğdır. In the shadow of the Coronavirus crisis, the government has occupied five more Kurdish municipalities today.
The police in Iğdır province used tear gas and pepper spray to crack down on a demonstration against the seizure of the HDP-run municipality through the appointment of a trustee earlier today. The demonstration began after numerous people had gathered in several side streets in the city centre to march to the town hall under siege. The protesters are demanding the release of co-mayors Eylem Çelik and Yaşar Akkuş, who were arrested early on Friday morning at the instigation of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior.
Also in four other municipalities in Northern Kurdistan, the elected mayors were deposed on Friday and replaced by trustees of the Turkish government. The Ministry of the Interior justifies the occupation of the municipalities with investigations back from 2019 with terror accusations. There are no concrete charges against the mayors and the accusations are vaguely formulated.
During the protests in Iğdır, the deputy mayor Halis Güney was also subject to violence. A police officer struck the HDP politician against his neck.
Siirt co-mayor Berivan Helen Işık, Baykan co-mayor Ramazan Sarsılmaz, Kurtalan co-mayor Baran Akgül, Iğdır co-mayor Yaşar Akkuş and Altınova co-mayor Casim Budak were removed from office and replaced by trustees this morning.
In the local elections of 31 March 2019, HDP won a total of 65 municipalities, including three metropolitan cities. 45 of these town halls have been usurped by the government this year while HDP mayors elected for six municipalities had already been denied mandate on the grounds of their previous dismissal with an emergency decree (KHK).
