The state trustee regime in North Kurdistan is history again. In the local elections on Sunday, the HDP successor DEM not only managed to win back municipalities that had been placed under receivership after the previous vote in 2019.

The 'People's Equality and Democracy Party' also became the strongest force in circles that the Kurdish democratic opposition could not win in previous elections, such as in Muş, and regained the majority they lost five years ago in Dersim and Agirî. The party remained at just under 5.8 percent nationwide.

According to the preliminary results, together with the three large cities of Amed, Mardin and Van, the DEM was still able to win a total of 77 mayoral positions. That is twelve more than in the last local elections.

Bakırhan: The will of the Kurdish people must be respected

"The real winners of this election are the Kurdish people, the working people and the women," said DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan in the evening in Ankara.

The people of Kurdistan have asserted their will for democracy and peace, for an end to the war and a political solution to the Kurdish question. Bakırhan said: "What won was the desire for local democracy and overcoming the centralistic, monistic mentality. Those who want to secure their existence through hostility to the Kurds have lost. We wanted to end the oppression and exploitation by the AKP at the ballot box. We succeeded and this will must be respected."