The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) has denounced the Turkish government’s appointment of unelected trustees to replace the elected mayors in the Kurdish-majority municipalities of Mardin (Mêrdîn) and Batman (Êlih) provinces and Halfeti (Xelfetî) district in Urfa (Riha) province.
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“Our call to all our people is to defend their honour, freedom and will. They must continue their protest action until this seizure is reversed and the municipalities are returned to the people,” the KCK stated.
The KCK accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) coalition of having “no intention to achieve peace, brotherhood or a solution [to the Kurdish question]” and described their mindset as “completely anti-democratic, racist, fascist and genocidal.”
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Describing the trustee appointments as “a seizure and genocide” as well as “a clear violation of democracy and the rule of law”, the KCK said resisting this anti-democratic move is a fundamental requirement of democracy.
The KCK called on broader Turkish society and democratic forces to stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people, stressing that “every blow dealt to the will of the Kurdish people is a blow struck against the democratisation of Turkey.”
Protests have already erupted across the affected regions, with the KCK urging the Kurdish people “from the age of seven to seventy” to take action and not to accept the situation as long as the elected mayors are not reinstated.
The KCK statement frames the trustee appointments as part of the AKP/MHP’s “persistent but failed strategy” to exclude Kurds from politics, warning that the regime will continue to “seize the will of society” in both Kurdistan and Turkey.
