A 6-day 'Respect for the Will March' from Van to Hakkari was launched on 3 July in protest at the appointment of a trustee on 3 June to Hakkari Municipality won by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in the 31 March local elections.

The legitimate and democratically elected mayor, Mehmet Sıddık Akış, who ran for the DEM party in the local elections on 31 March and was elected with almost 49 percent of the vote despite massive attempts at fraud and the deployment of thousands of soldiers as "ghost voters", was removed from office and sentenced to almost 20 years in prison in a political terror trial for supporting the PKK. The municipality was usurped by a government-appointed trustee on 3 June despite the determination of the other elected co-mayor, Viyan Tekçe, as interim mayor by the city council.

On its fifth day, the march continued with the participation of DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları, who made a speech in the Zap Valley on their route.

Tülay Hatimoğulları said, "In this march against the trustee regime, we demand respect for our will, our right to elect and be elected, the law and the constitution."

DEM Party Co-Chair said, "Unfortunately, the trustee mentality does not recognise this and trustees are appointed. Our protests continue everywhere against this mentality that carries out a political coup. We are marching from all over Turkey and Kurdistan to demand respect for our will. Respect the voters and what comes out of the ballot box and recognise the election of co-mayor.”