A trustee was appointed to Colemêrg (Hakkari) Municipality, which was governed by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), on June 3. On October 31, trustees were appointed to Istanbul Esenyurt Municipality, which was won with the “Urban Consensus” model, and on November 4, trustees were appointed to Mêrdîn Metropolitan, Êlih (Batman) and Xelfetî (Halfeti) municipalities under DEM Party administration. While the reactions against the government's unacceptable trustee practice continue, a “Democracy and Freedom” rally will be organized in Êlih on November 17, led by the Platform of Democratic Institutions.

 

Citizens in Amed, whom we spoke to about the trustees, stated that they will be at the rally in Êlih on November 17th.  

 

'IS EVERYONE GUILTY?'

 

Sami Tanrıkulu said he is against the trustees and added: “It doesn't make sense for me to say anything about this. It is not right to reason about something that does not make sense. Ideas are killed by ideas, not the other way around.”

 

Yılmaz Aydın said that the trustees meant “You cannot govern yourself, I will govern you”. “Of course Kurds can govern themselves. Why shouldn't they be able to govern themselves? Not one, not two, but three. Is everyone guilty? I mean, is there no innocent? We need to march together as a people, raise our voices and react to the trustees. We have no other option,” he said.  

 

On November 17, Aydın said that he will attend the rally in Êlih, “We all owe it to ourselves to attend this rally,” he said.   

 

'WE ARE STANDING, WE ARE RESISTING'

 

Nacide Güler reacted to the trustee appointments, “They ran out of what they stole, they were hungry, that's why they are coming against us. They want to crush us. We are standing, we are resisting, we will resist,” she said.  

 

Mahmut Laçin pointed out that the will of the people has been mortgaged, “There has been a victimization, democracy has been violated. Democracy is underfoot right now. The trustee is a political decision,” he said. Laçin emphasized that all segments of society should attend the rally in Êlih to demand democracy.  

 

'THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE BY FORCE WHAT THEY HAVE LOST'

 

“Those who come by election must go by election. If the same person (Ahmet Türk) has been elected for years, it means that the people are satisfied with this person. This is a usurpation of will. No one is happy with this situation. Ahmet Türk's work in Esenyurt was very good. They could not digest this. And because they couldn't digest it, they threw stones. They wanted to remove him from office. This is a persecution against Kurds. This is how they want to compensate for their losses in Istanbul, Antalya and Mersin. They are trying to take what they lost by force,” Mehmet Adanır said and called on “Everyone to protect their will”.

 

Kudret Yeşilada said the following: “I find the appointment of trustees extremely wrong and unfair. This practice does not exist anywhere in the world. They should give up this policy. Because this situation is shameful. Confiscating people's will is theft, usurpation. The people must protect their will. In Wan, a trustee was appointed immediately after the elections. But the people rose up and resisted against the trustee and they had to step back. We must not remain silent.” Yeşilada emphasized that the rally to be held in Êlih is very important and that there should be participation from all over Turkey.

 

Hıdır Şevran said that the will of the people was disregarded with the trusteeship and added: “A vote means honor and dignity. The current government is trying to take away the municipality it could not win.” 

 

REACTION TO 'BROTHERHOOD' STATEMENTS

 

Describing the trustee appointments as a “coup”, Adil Baymış said: “The aim is only to subjugate the Kurds. It is trying to subjugate them, but it will not. Kurdish people are an honorable people. The people of Kurdistan will respond against the trustees.” 

 

Pointing to Devlet Bahçeli's statements, Baymış said: “AKP-MHP has not taken any steps until today. It is not taking any steps against the Kurds. It is only propaganda. He speaks differently here and differently in the back.” Baymış stated that he will attend the rally to be held in Êlih.

 

Azad Turan said: “They say ‘Kurds and Turks are brothers’ but we can't see this brotherhood in any way. The trustees are a kind of attack on the Kurdish language. The first action of the trustee appointed in Êlih was to remove the Kurdish language from the website. No one can ignore this. We exist, we are Kurds, not Turks. They can appoint as many trustees as they want. We exist, we will continue to exist. We will not bow down. We will defend our municipalities until the end.”  

 

'LET THEM APPOINT TRUSTEES FOR THOSE WHO COMMIT THEFT'

 

Efe Kaymak said: “I guess instead of winning the Kurdish people, they are planning to lose more. Or they are trying to plan to end the Kurdish people here. These trustees show this. They need to give up these policies. They need to understand and know that they will get nowhere with these policies. Has a single corruption been detected in our previous municipality administration or in the current municipality administration? We need to ask this. Has there been a single theft? That's why we say that instead of our municipalities, they should appoint trustees for those who steal. They should go back to their own municipalities and look at this corruption.” 

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel