Abdullah Demirbaş, Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) mayor of Sur Municipality in Diyarbakır, which was appreciated abroad for its multilingual municipal services and projects on rights, spoke to ANF about BDP's sense of municipality and the significant progress and change it has made in both the general mentality and in practice. Sur mayor said that BDP municipalities have given a new impulse to Turkey and that this achievement has been disturbing the dominant system in the country.
The Kurdish movement achieved a historic victory in 2009 by getting control of around 100 municipalities in the Kurdish region. What sort of a change have these BDP municipalities created in the general sense of municipalism in these four years?
- BDP has a 13 year-old history in municipalism but its works in this area have reached a more advanced level since 2009, in spite of all the repression, arrests and obstructions it has faced. The sense of a new democratic and libertarian local government that BDP presented has given a new impulse to Turkey. It has brought along a sense of a transparent management on the basis of democratic participation and positive gendered approach. What disturbs the dominant system is this sense which enables the determination of the form of the government by all social layers and elements of society on the basis of democratic participation.
This sense has also changed the point of view towards town planning, women, youth, elders and disabled people. The social approach towards historical and cultural heritage has also undergone a change with this new perspective which has revealed a sense of meeting with the history and the past and carrying it to the future, while the prior sense of municipalism wouldn't make a point of advancing and strengthening historical values
Is it possible to say the same thing for all BDP municipalities?
- Certainly all BDP municipalities have made an effort in order to put this model of municipalism into practice. There were some deficiencies at times but it is important that we all worked to realize this model. It wouldn't be wrong to say that many disregarded groups of peoples, identities and beliefs in Turkey have felt their self-presence better by developing self confidence at BDP municipalities.
So, can we say that BDP municipalities have succeed in improving the dialogue with the people?
- We cannot say that we have done well enough but we absolutely have succeeded in some areas. The dominant system's attacks on BDP municipalities show that we are carrying out a work which is disturbing the system.
What sort of deficiencies do you face in terms of answering the demands of the people?
- Our people are well aware of the fact that the dominant system imposes a great repression on BDP municipalities. The lack of economic opportunities and permanent staff constitute an obstacle to us in terms of putting great projects into practice. The lack of qualified personnel is a consequence of our personnel policy. On the other hand, when we want to hire contracted personnel, the ministry creates barriers. When we want to incorporate, the Council of Ministers doesn't permit us to do so. When we want to receive credit from international credit institutions, the treasury management doesn't approve it.
The multilingual services of Sur Municipality has been appreciated both inside the country and in the international area. What difficulties do you face in putting multifaceted works into practice?
- Our people internalize the sense of multilingual municipal services and the provision of service in their mother tongue but the greatest problems we face are the legal ones that the dominant system subjects us to. In a recent survey we have carried out, we see that 89 percent of the people want to receive education and service in their mother tongue. Considering this truth, we can say that the people do not only internalize our multilingual works but also expect other institutions to do the same.
How would you describe BDP's municipalism model?
- We first started our works on the basis of governing both our town and ourselves. As the people had always stayed out of the decision making process so far, we started to create a democratic system in which people can participate in the municipal administration by means of mechanisms such as City Councils, Neighborhood Councils, Women's Councils, Children's Councils and Youth Councils. We cannot claim to have put this system into practice adequately but at least we reached a certain level in the work we have carried out so far.
Secondly, we based our system on ensuring a collective sense of economy among the people through cooperatives. We managed to form some cooperatives but the work remain at an unsatisfactory level yet. There has been a particular acceleration in the work for advancing women's efforts for liberation in social and economic life. We have also reached a level, which however still remains inadequate, in the area of forming our alternative institutions, such as centers for women, and we made a progress in the educational field in particular. To give an example, we first started our work in this area by opening  kindergartens but now we are working on forming out alternative education system at our centers for education promotion.
The major point of our work has always been to introduce a positive gendered approach to all administrative mechanisms of the city and in doing this we tried to present an alternative to the capitalist modernity-based perspective which denies women the right to take part in these mechanisms. Our municipalities have also taken some revolutionary steps such as denying salary to men who inflict violence on their wives or other women. This practice of us also set a good example for the municipalities ruled by the dominant system.
The 'center for education promotion' model as well as the multilingual works of our municipality have also set an example for a number of system municipalities. The necessity for the municipality staff to know different languages is also a point that the system municipalities take into consideration now. In other words, we can say that we have succeed on the way to transform ourselves and the system within a limited time. We also carried out significant work for various belief groups, such as the restoration of their sacred spaces. The dominant system is now imitating us and trying to do the same things.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talks at every opportunity about the achievements of AKP municipalities and accuses BDP municipalities of being lacking in service. Would it be true to say that AKP municipalities ride high in Kurdish cities?
- If AKP municipalities are so successful in the Kurdish region, then what is the reason behind the arrest and elimination of our mayors and council members and the economic pressure imposed on our municipalities?  At this point we see that they are afraid of our work and achievements. AKP municipalities are provided with all kinds of financial possibilities but nobody knows what these resources are being used for.
In 2004, a number of AKP municipalities were taken over by BDP which principally answer to people on the basis of a democratic, transparent and participative approach. BDP managed to take control of these municipalities because people had started to question the service of AKP municipalities after they witnessed the service that BDP municipalities could provide despite all the financial restrictions they faced. They started to question why AKP municipalities didn't provide the same service despite having a remarkable economic potential.
How do you evaluate the law on metropolitan municipalities the AKP government has recently passed?
- First of all, it is not a democratic practice to close town municipalities at a time when we are witnessing devolution advancing all around the world. The closure of town municipalities means neglecting the rights and will of local residents living in towns. I am of the opinion that residential areas in particular should be governed by a democratic will. As a matter of fact, with the new law on metropolitan municipalities, AKP is becoming more and more centralized, instead of 'devolved'. It promises to expand the authority of municipalities but on the contrary it is expanding the authority of governors.
In this respect, what would you say about AKP officials' allegations that administrations are becoming federal institutions?
- This is not a realistic allegation because of the fact that the elimination of city council members and their replacement with a governor or a deputy governor is an undemocratic practice which means the elimination of the will of the people.
In consideration of local elections, planned for 2014, what kind of positive or negative consequences may this plan have for the BDP?
- The main purpose of the AKP has been to close the municipalities which oppose the government and to take these municipalities and re-arranging them in the scope of its own lines. It is planning to make Mardin, Van and many other cities a metropolitan city and to take control of the municipalities in the districts of these cities. However, I expect this plan to progress the other way around because all these plans are electoral frauds which will not succeed because the AKP is trying to draw lines in Istanbul and many other provinces, and to design them in its own way, on the basis of the results of the elections held in 2011.
What kind of a program and project will the BDP be following on the way to the coming elections? What is the program of the Sur Municipality for example?
- Preparations are already underway for some projects but it is yet too early to talk about these programs. However I can say that BDP municipalities principally aim to put achievable projects into practice instead of promising countless projects and then fail to realise them. The people who vote for us know that BDP municipalities do not promise something they will not make real. They know we do not mislead them.
Can you give us some information about the works of Sur Municipality, especially about those which had an echo in the international area?
- Our projects on multilingualism and the Street of Cultures both had an echo internationally. The project of Street of Cultures aims to facilitate the living together of different beliefs. In the scope of this ongoing project we have been working on the construction of a mosque, a Chaldean Catholic Church, an Armenian Gregorian Church, a Synagogue, an Alevi House and a Yezidi House. 80 percent of the project has already been completed.
One other project of ours is the Monument of Shared Sorrow which will represent the sorrow shared by different peoples and the demand to end this sorrow. Preparations are currently underway for this project which we expect to have an echo internationally.
What about your joint works with municipalities abroad?
- We are building a bridge of peace, democracy and freedom by means of local governments. We also work with some twin municipalities on the basis of our stance siding with the brotherhood of peoples and beliefs. The twin municipalities we work with include one from Ramallah of Palestine, one from the South Kurdistan city of Duhok, one from the Armenian city of Gyumri, one from the Turkish province of Çanakkale and one from the town of Thionville in the Lorraine region of France. We will also start twin municipality works with a municipality in Corsica.