The elected co-mayors of Diyarbakir (Amed) have received their official documents after winning the local elections in the city on 31 March. As thousands of citizens marched to the municipality building in support and entered the building, Serra Bucak and Doğan Hatun of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) started their five-year term to serve the people. The official installation of the co-mayors marks an end to eight years of un-elected AKP ‘trustees’ ruling over the city.
Serra Bucak and Doğan Hatun received 64% of the votes, against 17% for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate. Their appointment to receive their certificate was scheduled for 11 am on Monday however the ‘trustee’ of the municipality attempted to convene a municipality council meeting at the same time. The trustee’s action was against the law since after the elections the acting mayor no longer has such powers.
The elected officials called on the people to be on their guard, wary of any unexpected actions by the state, allowing the schedule to run as planned on Monday. Thousands of Diyarbakir citizens gathered and marched to the main square in front of the municipality building. Among them were Peace Mothers, civil society organisations and representatives of political parties. The elected co-mayors made an appearance after receiving their Certificate of Election. The crowd made music and chanted slogans including “Diyarbakir is ours, the municipality is ours,” or “Amed ya me ye şaredari ya me ye,” in Kurdish.
Un-elected AKP trustees took over governance of the city in 2016, when the then-elected co-mayors Gültan Kışanak and Fırat Anlı were arrested alongside dozens of other Kurdish politicians, including Selahattin Demirtaş, the jailed former co-leader of the HDP, the party predecessor to DEM. Kışanak remains incarcerated, while Anlı is exiled in Switzerland. In the 2019 local elections, the electorate voted in HDP’s Selçuk Mızraklı and Hülya Uyanık but they too were dismissed, replaced by a ‘trustee’ and incarcerated. Mızraklı and Uyanık remain in jail.
