Concrete barriers to be erected around the usurped municipality of Van

Fearing protests and actions against the Van Municipality, which has been usurped by the regime through a trustee, the town hall walls itself behind massive concrete barriers.

With the beginning of the popular resistance for Democratic Autonomy in Northern Kurdistan cities in 2015, all state institutions locked themselves behind concrete walls. This is especially true of the town halls, which the HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) and DBP (Democratic Regions Party) have been deprived of by the Turkish regime and trustees have been appointed in place of the legitimate municipal administrations. Apart from the aim of hiding from possible actions and protests, the barriers are also about providing their own clientele with lucrative contracts.

The trustee and governor, Ozan Balcı, appointed last summer, had announced with great fanfare in Van that he would remove these concrete barriers. Three days after his appointment, he actually ordered the removal of the barriers in front of the governor's office and the town hall. And so, the concrete barriers around the main administration building of Van Municipality in the Seyit Fehim Arvasi neighborhood were removed with construction machinery. Then, on the instructions of Governor Balcı, the walls in front of the town halls in Ipekyolu and Çaldıran were also removed some time ago.

After the visit of the Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and the action of the guerrillas in Mersin, there is now apparently fear in the authorities and it was decided to erect the barriers again. Instead of using the old barriers, the construction of the barriers was put out to tender again. Thus, once again, an amount of several million Turkish liras will flow out to the supporters of AKP/MHP fascism.