Turkish authorities arrest 9 anti-trustee protestors

Turkish authorities has arrested nine people in eastern Dersim for “resisting the police” during protests against the appointment of trustees to the pro-Kurdish party-led municipality.

Wednesday November 27 2024 10:35 pm

Duvar English

The number of people arrested for participating in the protests against the appointment of a trustee to pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party’s Dersim Municipality rose to nine on Nov. 27.

Dersim co-mayor Cevdet Konak has been dismissed by the Interior Ministry following a 6-year prison sentence issued by the Tunceli High Criminal Court for "membership in an armed terrorist organization" and an ongoing investigation by the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for "terrorist propaganda." While Dersim Co-Mayor Birsen Orhan was also sentenced to house arrest, the governor was appointed as a trustee to replace them.

Following the appointment of trustee on Nov. 22, protests erupted in the evening, facing a heavy police crackdown. In response, the governor's office imposed a 10-day ban on public demonstrations across the province.

In the period that followed, seven people were arrested for participating in the protests, including those detained in house raids.

On Nov. 27, two of the four people detained for participating in the protests were arrested, bringing the total number of arrests to nine.

Protestors were charged with “resisting the police,” “damaging public property,” and “violating Law on Demonstrations and Marches.”

Following significant losses by the ruling coalition in the 2024 local elections, the government appointed trustees to municipalities won by opposition parties. Trustees replaced main-opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayors in Istanbul's Esenyurt and Dersim's Ovacık districts, as well as DEM Party mayors in Hakkari, Mardin, Batman, and the Halfeti district of Şanlıurfa.

Topics Tunceli Dersim Trustee mayors trustee DEM Party