People's resistance against the usurpation of municipalities continues in Mardin. The protesters gathered at the entrance of İstasyon neighbourhood and held a banner reading ‘Trustee is a coup, don't touch my will’. The Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) Co-spokesperson Ali Kenanoğlu, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MPs Saliha Aydeniz and Beritan Güneş Altın participated in the demonstration on Friday.

Speaking here, Devrim Demir, elected co-mayor of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, pointed out that the people have been struggling against the usurpation of their will since the removal of the democratically elected co-mayors. Stressing that they would not surrender their will, Devrim Demir said, “Those who usurped our will today should know well that we did not and will not accept this. We continued our work among our people and will continue to do so. We will not bow to this policy that does not recognise our will and our identity. We will continue our work in alternative ways among our people and grow our organisation.”

Speaking after, HDK Co-spokesperson Ali Kenanoğlu pointed out that the trustee policy suspended democracy. Underlining that the government wants to design the country with the desire for a one-man regime, Kenanoğlu noted that the political will of the Kurdish people was targeted. He continued: “In the whole Kurdistan geography, we have seen that the trustees have imprisoned themselves. The people are free and they are in prison. They cannot go out from behind concrete and iron barriers because they know that what they do is not legitimate and not in favour of the people.”

Stating that the trustees were condemned by the people, Kenanoğlu said, ‘Gold in jewellery shops, baklavas... The west recognised the trustee with those photos. They did not know what a trustee was in the western part of the country. They got to know the trustees when this theft and investigations, accusations and dismissals were expanded to the west. With the usurpation of the Esenyurt Municipality, they also learned how this work was done by trickery.”

Drawing attention to the unrest and instability in the country, Kenanoğlu criticised the budget allocated for the war. He concluded: “There is no solution other than living together in a common homeland. Therefore, instead of daily operations in which politicians and artists are arrested, we need to think and put forward together how we can establish lasting peace in these lands.”

Kenanoğlu added that they will continue their struggle to frustrate the war and trustee policies of the government.