Government’s recent trustee appointments protested in Istanbul

Ferhat Yaşar / DUVAR

The government’s recent trustee appointments to replace Tunceli and Ovacık mayors were protested in Istanbul’s Şişhane on Nov. 23. 

Organized by Istanbul Labor, Peace, and Democracy Forces, deputy and Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) co-Spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Group Deputy Chair Sezai Temelli, and Labour Party deputy İskender Bayhan attended the protest. 

Turkey’s Interior Ministry on Nov. 22 replaced Tunceli province mayor Cevdet Konak, from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, and Ovacık district mayor Mustafa Sarıgül, from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), on the grounds of “terrorism investigations.”

A court sentenced both mayors to six years and three months in prison over "terrorism" charges this week. The appeal process is still ongoing.

In the protest, Beştaş said, “The trustee seizes the municipality building by force, which the government could not take through elections. They are not representatives of the people. We will take back the municipalities you seized by force, even if you don't give them back.”

“They rely on trustee politics to stay in power until they die. But it cannot stop the collapse of your power,” İskender Bayhan said. 

In a press statement, Istanbul Labor, Peace, and Democracy Forces said appointing trustees is “first and foremost a blow to the will of the voters. (It) means the suspension of democracy and law. No matter how many times the AKP-MHP government appoints trustees, they lose these municipalities again and again with a bigger margin in every election.” 

The group demanded the withdrawal of the appointments. 

The appointments became the latest in the new wave of the government’s crackdown on opposition municipalities, which has ousted six democratically elected mayors so far this year.