Demonstrations continue for the fourth day in Amed (Diyarbakır) in protest at AKP’s seizure of the metropolitan municipalities of Amed, Van and Mardin which were won by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the local elections of March 31.

HDP deputies Musa Farisoğulları, Dersim Dağ, Remziye Tosun, Feleknas Uca and Dilşat Canbaz are among the demonstrators who have started a sit-in action on Lise Avenue in the vicinity of the municipality building under police siege.

HDP members are expected to make a statement to the press in the central Ofis area in Yenişehir district.

During Wednesday’s protests, police staged a brutal crackdown on crowds, battered many people including HDP MPs and journalists, and detained more than 10 people.

Upon a midnight order from the Interior Ministry, the co-mayors of metropolitan municipalities of Amed, Van and Mardin were removed from the office and governors of the three cities were appointed in their place on August 19. In parallel with the dismissal of co-mayors, the three municipalities were put under a police siege and over 400 people were detained during house raids in dozens of cities in the Kurdish region.