The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit held a press conference in the Parliament regarding the usurpation of the Mardin, Batman and Halfeti municipalities. Calling the trustee regime “an unnamed state of emergency”, Koçyiğit stated the following:

“Having lost all the resources of corruption and plunder in the 31 March elections, they have once again put the trustees in place to seize the resources of the people. Today is the 4th of November and we woke up to great lawlessness again. Of course, this date has a special feature. On 4 November 2016, a great coup was carried out against the HDP. Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş and many deputies were detained in a simultaneous operation and then imprisoned. This morning, on the 8th anniversary of this political genocide operation, Turkey opened its eyes to new lawlessness and a new coup. It is no coincidence that the date of 4th of November was chosen for the appointment of trustees.

We are the only focus of struggle that resists all these conspiracies, all these usurpations, all these antidemocratic practices and all these coups. Those who did not make a sound when trustees were appointed in Kurdish cities in the past were shocked when a trustee was appointed in Esenyurt, Istanbul. When trustees were appointed in Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin back in 2016, we said, ‘If the will of the people of Diyarbakır and Van is being seized today, the will of İzmir, Adana and Mersin will also be seized tomorrow’. We know very well that the issue is actually the seizure of the resources of a district like Esenyurt, which is one of the greatest sources of income. They have turned Turkey into a country of trustees for their own survival and their march to power.”

Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit pointed out that Ahmet Türk had recently participated in the reconciliation between Şenyaşar and Yıldız families in Urfa and said, “Was it not Ahmet Türk who was in the same frame with the Vice President? Did Ahmet Türk, who made peace a week ago, become a terrorist a week later?”

Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit continued: “Today is the day to resist together. All political parties from the westernmost to the easternmost part of Turkey, NGOs, women's organisations, legal organisations, everyone who speaks for rights, law, democracy and conscience in this country must come together. We need to unite against this oppression. We need to resist shoulder to shoulder. We know very well that if we do not resist this oppression, the country will be dragged into great chaos and a great deadlock, and there will be nothing left in the name of democracy.”

Koçyiğit noted that the DEM Party will hold its group meeting in Mardin tomorrow and will not participate in the general assembly, the plan budget commission and any other commission work in the parliament this week.

“We will defend the usurped will of the people and our municipalities until the end,” she added.