Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party condemns trustee appointment in eastern province

Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party has condemned the most recent arrest of their Siirt mayor Sofya Alağaş, as a "political seizure." Protesters gathered at the municipal building as the trustee took over the office. denounced the appointment, calling it a violation of democracy.

Wednesday January 29 2025 07:57 pm

Duvar English

Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic (DEM) Party issued a statement condemning the ousting of Sofya Alağaş, the co-mayor of the eastern Siirt municipality, stating that Ankara has appointed trustees to eight municipalities elected by the people since the local elections of 2024.

Speaking to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA), Alağaş said that her sentence was an attempt to justify the trustee appointment.

She claimed the decision had been made long before and that she had been frequently followed by plainclothes police in recent weeks.

Residents gather in front of the municipality building in protest of the trustee appointment.

“The trustee appointment was already decided. They only officially notified me this morning. We do not recognize this decision. We tore up the notice they gave us. This is pure fascism. They set up an election, candidates go through a legal process, and then they either open an investigation or speed up an existing case. They are deceiving the people, the country, and the law. They pretend democracy exists, but it does not,” she said.

Alağaş accused the government of transferring 7,000 to 8,000 voters to Siirt to manipulate election results.

“Despite this, the people of Siirt rejected these policies and clearly showed they did not want the government. But today, a trustee has been appointed to three languages and cultures. This is a multilingual and multicultural city. How will they answer to the people? This is a blatant usurpation of will. It is an attack on women, people, and democracy. For three terms, Siirt’s people have suffered oppression. Until now, people could enter the municipality and express their concerns, but today, police have put up barriers,” she said.

Siirt Co-Mayor Mehmet Kaysi also condemned the decision. “The sentence was unlawful. We stayed at the municipality all night. Early in the morning, they appointed a trustee. They surrounded us and forced us out of the building. No matter what they do, we will not back down. They brought in 8,000 transferred voters to seize the people’s will, yet we won by a margin of 9,000 votes. But still, they couldn’t accept it,” he said.

Kaysi called on the people to defend their municipality and democratic rights. “The trustee is plunder and seizure. When we took office, the municipality was in ruins. Their goal has never been to serve the people. In 10 months, we tried to rebuild the city. They have done nothing for the people, and the people know this and reject them. They do not recognize our will, and we do not recognize their decision,” he said.