Van Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayors Neslihan Şedal and Abdullah Zeydan took over the office in a ceremony organised with the participation of Mustafa Avcı, the former Co-Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality whose office was usurped. DEM Party Provincial Co-Chair Gülşen Kurt made the first speech at the ceremony attended by many people and said: "We have etaken over all 14 municipalities in Van and made history. The people of Van have made history twice by showing their will and resistance. We bow to this will of our people with respect. We will show our service to everyone, friend and foe."

'The people of Van resisted and won'

Mustafa Avcı, the deposed Co-Mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality, said, "Those who saw your resistance could not hold back their tears. The people of Van showed great resistance and won. Many unlawful and immoral things happened. They wanted to open a third door to this unlawfulness, but our people closed this door on them. If they happen to appoint a trustee again, they will measure and decide a thousand times. The people of Van have been great morale for everyone. Our people have paid a great price and have great honour. Such resistances do not emerge in an hour. This resistance is a result of martyrs and our struggle. They supposed that our people would turn their backs on us and leave if the government appointed a trustee, but our people did what was necessary. We received 53 percent of the votes during the first trustee period, 54 percent during the second trustee period, and 55 percent on 31 March. This means that your trustees are worthless.”  

‘The people won’

Zeydan said, "Our people never digested the trustee and always stood by the candidates of his party. We saved 14 municipalities from the trustee usurpation and made them municipalities of the people. This labour was our people's and they won. We will run our municipalities together with our people and start our services. Of course, we need the experience of our other friends. Now is the day to work."

 'Nothing is bigger than the will of the people'

Neslihan Şedal also drew attention to the importance of the resistance of the people and said: "Nothing is bigger than the will of the people and no one can usurp their will. If our people won through their resistance, this shows how strong their will is. We have paid great prices in the struggle for freedom and democracy. We commemorate them all with respect and say that we will follow their struggle. We will fulfill all the requirements of decentralisation and serve our people. From now on, we will endeavour to make life meaningful for our people. We will make our city a centre for women, youth, ecological and production. Success belongs to the people of Van."