Tülay Hatimoğulları, co-chair of Turkey’s Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), has called for public unity against the government’s policy of replacing elected officials with appointed trustees. Speaking on 31 October outside the DEM Party’s Esenyurt district office after a party meeting, Hatimoğulları condemned these appointments as “anti-democratic” and urged citizens to “stand as one, demanding democracy and social peace together.”
Hatimoğulları’s remarks come after the recent arrest of Esenyurt’s elected mayor, Ahmet Özer, who was then replaced by a government-appointed trustee. She argued that these appointments, first introduced in Kurdish-majority areas, are now being imposed on cities in western Turkey. “We warned that the trustee regime would spread from Kurdish regions to the west, and today it has reached places like Esenyurt,” she said. She described the practice as an “attack on local democracy” and a way for the government to remove officials they see as challenging.
Describing Esenyurt as a “model of Turkey’s diversity”, Hatimoğulları stressed that the district is home to people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, coexisting peacefully. She criticised the government for disrupting this unity through a “dawn raid” on Özer’s home and argued that these appointments threaten the peace within such communities. “The trustee system takes away the public’s right to choose their own leaders,” she said. “This isn’t democracy—it’s a form of authoritarianism.”
Hatimoğulları also warned that trustee appointments often lead to corruption, alleging that trustees tend to favour businesses with government connections over public needs. “We know they are using these appointments to open revenue streams for their allies, just as they have done by handing out public resources to favoured businesses,” she stated.
Concluding her address, Hatimoğulları urged all citizens who value democracy to resist the trustee appointments. “If we want to protect democracy across Turkey, it’s time for everyone to stand together,” she said. Following her speech, Hatimoğulları joined DEM Party members in Esenyurt Square for a public rally, continuing her call for unity against the trustee system.
