Sofia Alağaş, the co-mayor of Siirt Municipality, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison on Tuesday by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. Following the sentence, the Ministry of the Interior seized the municipality and appointed a trustee.

Turkish police, who surrounded the municipal building, informed the co-mayors that a trustee had been appointed. While the Turkish flag was hung on the municipal building, citizens continued their resistance in front of the building.

Sabahat Erdoğan Sarıtaş, DEM Party's Siirt MP, arrived in front of the municipal building. She protested the trustee coup, stating that they would not accept the attack on the will of the people and would resist the decision.

Eşref Tekin, the co-chair of the DEM Party's Siirt Provincial Organization, said: "Despite electoral fraud and irregularities, the government could not take the municipality. Now it is seizing it. This people went to the ballot box and elected their co-mayors. These actions are a political coup."

Turkish police attempted to remove citizens and party members who had gathered in front of the municipality. When citizens and party members protested, they were attacked by the police. During the attack, Şernas Çelepkolu, the co-chair of the DEM Party's Siirt Central District, Muhammed Polat, the administrator of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Siirt Provincial Organization, and municipal employee Ferhat Toprak, were taken into custody.

Following the attack, people began a sit-in protest on Doğan Street in front of the municipality. The crowd chanted slogans such as, "Trustees are a political coup," and "Trustees will leave, the people will stay."

Since the 31 March elections, the municipalities of Hakkari, Mardin, Batman, Tunceli, Halfeti, Akdeniz, Muş, and Siirt, all governed by the DEM Party, have been seized.

We do not accept the trustee coup

Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları, the co-chairs of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), protested the trustee coup by publishing some posts on their social media accounts.

Tuncer Bakırhan said: "We reject the appointment of a trustee to our Siirt Municipality. The will of the people will defeat this usurping mentality. Opening investigations and imposing sentences on our co-mayors based on fabricated reasons to pave the way for the illegality of trustees is political fraud. Political fraud cannot coexist with peace and democracy. Those who do not respect the will of the people are doing the greatest harm to this country. Appointing trustees to municipalities and disregarding the will of the Kurdish people is a colonial habit.

Trying to govern the Kurdish people with colonial methods in the 21st century is a futile effort. We strongly reject this mentality, which seizes the institutions of the people through the judiciary and administration, because it cannot win at the ballot box. The will of the people of Siirt is strong enough to bury all political fraud, conspiracies, and seizures in history. Once again, we invite everyone to stand on the side of democracy."

Tülay Hatimoğulları said: "Once again, the judiciary, under the control of the government, has carried out a coup against the will of the people! Following the sentencing of our Siirt Co-Mayor Sofia Alağaş, a trustee has been appointed to our Siirt Municipality. We say it once again! Peace cannot be achieved through the insistence on trustees but through democracy, rights, and justice. We do not accept this seizure of the will, which occurred during those days when we were trying to nurture the hope for peace.

We have not taken a single step back from resisting the trustee coup and fighting for an honorable peace, and we will not. We call on everyone whose heart beats for democracy to stand against the seizure of the will and to defend the will of the people."