In Nusaybin, the DEM party's election campaign concluded with a torchlight rally. The district town has been managed by a state trustee for two periods, but co-mayor candidate Gülbin Şahin Dağhan wants to change that.
In Nusaybin (Nisêbîn), preparations for the local elections have been completed in a militant festival atmosphere.
On Friday evening, a large crowd of people walked through the city with torches to the women's electoral office of the DEM party, chanting "Bijî Berxwdana Zindanan" (Long live the prison resistance) and "Bijî Serok Apo" (Long live Chairman Apo, meaning Abdullah Öcalan). Along the way, more and more people joined the torchlight march.
In front of the women's electoral office, DEM Party Mardin MP Kamuran Tanhan gave a speech underlining the importance of Sunday's elections: "This is not a normal election, it is a choice between the Kurdish people, who despite everything insist on peace, and those who insist on death. In order to drive the regime of trustees out of Kurdistan, we will go to the polls on 31 March and use our right to vote. We will take a stand against isolation and rights violations in prisons."
Lawyer Gülbin Şahin Dağhan, co-mayor candidate for the DEM party, said: "For two electoral periods, the will of the people of Nisêbîn has been run by trustees. On 31 March we will send the trustee away and govern our city ourselves again."
The politician called for people not to leave the polling stations until the final votes have been counted in order to prevent attempts at fraud: "Protecting the ballot boxes is just as important as the voting process. We will rebuild Nisêbîn hand in hand."
Nusaybin was largely destroyed during the resistance for self-government in 2015-2016. The co-mayors elected in the last two local elections were removed from office by the Turkish Interior Ministry and replaced by a state trustee. As in most Kurdish cities, the right to vote and stand for election was effectively suspended.
