Political figures from various parties have strongly condemned the Turkish Interior Ministry’s appointment of trustees to replace elected mayors in the Kurdish-majority municipalities of Mardin (Mêrdîn), Batman (Êlih) and Halfeti (Xelfetî) in Urfa (Riha) province. Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel and other prominent opposition voices have announced immediate action against the decision. Protests and rallies are already underway.
Fears are increasing that the trustee appointments could extend beyond the Kurdish municipalities. Özel and other opposition figures suggest that the government’s actions undermine the national democratic process as a whole, while representatives of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party are calling it a continuation of political repression.
The Interior Ministry announced the appointment of the trustees, known as kayyum, early on Monday morning. The mayors, DEM Party representatives elected in the country’s local elections, were removed on the grounds of ongoing legal cases and past allegations of links to terrorism. However, the decision has sparked a wave of criticism from various political actors, and raised concerns over democracy, human rights and the right to political representation.
CHP leader Özgür Özel announced that he would travel to Mardin to meet with the recently dismissed mayor, Ahmet Türk, a veteran Kurdish politician who has faced similar dismissals in the past. Türk responded by reaffirming his commitment to the struggle for democracy and peace. In a fiery statement, Özel condemned the government’s actions, saying: “We are dealing with shameless arrogance. They have the audacity to seize municipalities that they failed to win in the elections. We have reached the end of the line and we will fight this evil by any means necessary.”
Bu sabah Türkiye’de barış denilince ilk akla gelen siyasette diyaloğun en önemli isimlerinden Ahmet Türk ile birlikte iki seçilmiş belediye başkanına daha kayyum atandı.
Günlerdir yaşananlardan hiçbir ders almadan,
Söylenenlere hiç kulak asmadan,
Seçimde kazanamadığı…— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel) November 4, 2024
Özel will fly to Mardin today to offer personal support and solidarity to Türk, who has become a symbol of the political tensions between the Turkish government and Kurdish opposition figures. The move comes as Özel continues to position the CHP as a defender of democratic rights.
Several opposition figures have also expressed outrage. The CHP MP for Diyarbakır Sezgin Tanrıkulu condemned the move as another sign of the government’s authoritarian drift, accusing it of trying to delegitimise elected officials by force. Tanrıkulu called on key political figures with ties to the region, such as Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Vice-President Cevdet Yılmaz, to resign in protest.
Ruling coalition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent remarks about a possible dialogue with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan were criticised by DEM Party members, including MP for Urfa Ömer Öcalan. Öcalan criticised the appointment of trustees as a “persistent but failed strategy” aimed at excluding Kurds from the political arena.
In his first comments after the dismissal, DEM Party MP for Batman Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki expressed anger at the timing, noting that this was not the first time such an event had coincided with important anniversaries in the Kurdish political movement. “The 4th of November is a day of infamy as it commemorates the arrests of our leaders, including Selahattin Demirtaş,” Tiryaki said. He described the appointment of trustees as a “dawn raid”, with police blockading municipal offices across the region.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, both of the CHP, criticised the government’s actions. İmamoğlu, who is currently in Egypt for a conference, tweeted his disapproval, saying, “This is an attack on democracy. You can’t just remove elected officials and install your own people.”
İktidar kontrolü kaybetti, tutarsız ve ciddiyetsiz savrulmalar yaşıyor. Daha bir hafta önce Cumhurbaşkanı Yardımcısıyla aileleri barıştıran Ahmet Türk bu hafta terörist oldu.
Demokrasilerde seçmen iradesinin sürekliliği esastır. Seçilmiş görevden uzaklaştırılıyorsa yerine yine…
— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) November 4, 2024
Bugün yine kayyum atamalarıyla güne başladık.
Öncelikle burada savunulması gereken kişilerden bağımsız olarak hukuk ve demokrasidir. Demokrasilerde bazen seçim kazanılır, bazen seçim kaybedilir. Hiç istemediğiniz birisini halk seçebilir. Önemli olan bunun içe sindirilmesidir.…— Mansur Yavaş (@mansuryavas06) November 4, 2024
Yavaş echoed these sentiments, calling for legislative changes to prevent the further appointment of trustees. “The right solution is to allow the municipal council to choose a replacement if the mayor is removed, instead of appointing government officials.”
The opposition have vowed to escalate its protests, making the issue a rallying point in the ongoing struggle between Turkey’s ruling coalition and its political rivals.
