Thousands gathered in Şehid Şeyh Said (Şêx Seîd) Square in Diyarbakır (Amed) for a concert organised by the metropolitan municipality featuring the Kurdish music group Koma Hevra and the mixed-ethnicity group Kardeş Türküler. The event marked a significant moment in the city’s cultural revival after years of state-appointed trusteeship, which many in the city believe attempted to erase its Kurdish identity.
Pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party’s Diyarbakır Branch Co-Chair Abbas Şahin addressed the crowd, criticising the actions of the state-appointed trustees (kayyım) who had governed Diyarbakır for eight years in place of officials elected by the people. Şahin accused the trustees of deliberately trying to suppress the use of the Kurdish language and stifle cultural expression in the city.
“For eight years, they have tried everything to silence our language and our culture,” Şahin said. “But look around – this square is full of people standing up for their heritage.”
The DEM party won a significant electoral victory in the country’s local elections on 31 March, regaining control of the city. Şahin noted that Diyarbakır has once again embraced its cultural roots, with public spaces filled with Kurdish language, art and traditions. “Where there is art, there is freedom, and where there is freedom, there is peace,” he said, urging citizens to protect their cultural and linguistic heritage.
Diyarbakır Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun also spoke, underlining the municipality’s commitment to restoring the city’s cultural identity. “We said we would return and they would leave – and now our streets are filled with our language, our culture and our art,” Hatun said. “We will defend our freedom by preserving our land, our language and our culture.”
The appointment of trustees to municipalities in Kurdish-populated areas of Turkey resulted in the central government taking control of local governments, particularly after the failed military coup of 2016. Mayors elected by the local population were removed from office and replaced by state-appointed officials. In cities such as Diyarbakır, trustee administrations took steps to limit Kurdish language and cultural activities. Municipality-owned Kurdish language courses and cultural centres were closed, Kurdish signs changed and local cultural events blocked. This process was interpreted as an attempt at the erasure of Kurdish identity from the public sphere, and was met with anger from the local population.
