AKP politician Mehmet Çelik campaigned for votes for his candidacy for mayor with a motorcade through the Kurdish city of Nusaybin (Nisêbîn) on Saturday. The city in the province of Mardin (Mêrdîn) is a traditional stronghold of the HDP, whose successor, the DEM party, is considered the favorite in the local elections that will take place today.

As expected, Çelik's tour was not peaceful. The so-called 'wolf salute' of the right-wing extremist movement “Gray Wolves”, which people from the AKP troop parade showed, caused the first provocations. Numerous people, including DEM members, who had set up an information stand in the immediate vicinity, then stood on the street and blocked the convoy's passage. Çelik was booed, angry people shouted slogans in favor of the DEM. Several of the AKP candidate's companions got out of their vehicles and insulted the crowd. A man held a gun in front of people and threatened: "I’ll shoot you all."

The police present, who observed the process, intervened. However, the operation was directed against the angry crowd, which was growing larger and larger and on the verge of provocations. First, Çelik and his supporters were removed from the square under police protection. The emergency services then used tear gas to disperse the protesters. Numerous shopkeepers had to close their businesses early. Many of the protesters moved into side streets and narrow alleys.