Dear........,
As you know, Turkey survived a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Our parties, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) quickly and openly declared their stance in favor of democratic politics and against the coup. However, following the nationwide state of emergency rule declared on July 20, 2016, all legal rights and international human rights conventions were suspended. Consequently, the country went into a stage of a civilian coup. The decree-laws, passed as part of emergency rule,have rendered the parliament dysfunctional while the country is condemned to a one-man-rule gradually evolving into dictatorship.
On August 15, 2016, an amendment including two controversial articles was proposed at the plenary session of the Turkish parliament. One of these was concerned with changing the status of Hakkari and Şırnak from cities into districts. The other included a regulation that would allow the Ministry of Internal Affairs to appoint trustees to municipalities, replacing democratically elected DBP co-mayors. Following intense objections from opposition parties, these two articles were removed from the amendment. Despite this, an emergency rule decree allowing the Ministry of Internal Affairs to appoint trustees to replace co-mayors was announced on official gazette and this decision was put into force on September 1, 2016. This has totally undermined the already weak dynamics of local democracy in the country.
When the dismissed co-mayors were asked, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had previously praised the will of people against the coups repeatedly, did not hesitate to say,“Some ask how the elected could be sacked. They could be sacked without a hitch”. When asked about the trustees, Süleyman Soylu, the new Minister of Interior, said,“I will speak openly. We will be cruel.”
In the city of Batman, during the local elections held on March 30, 2014, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) received 55.9 percent of the votes, while Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) won 68.2 percent of the votes during the general elections on November 1, 2015. Nevertheless, on September 11, 2016, the Ministry of Interior appointed trustees to replace 24 democratically elected mayors throughout Kurdistan, including four major municipalities in Batman, on grounds of “aiding and abetting terrorist organizations” with state resources and tax money.Almost a year ago, ten co-mayors of five DBP municipalities in Batman were dismissed with the same accusations. However, DBP municipalities, long operating with transparency, have shared thedetails of theirexpenditureson banners, billboards, their official websites, and in the media since the first day they came to office.Although Ministry of Interior inspectorshave investigated the budget and financial accounts of DBP municipalitiesfor months, they could not find anysingle piece of evidence to justify these accusations.
Taking over Kurdish city halls like invaders, the appointed trustees hung enormous Turkish flags on the municipal buildings, also removing signs written in Kurdish and Armenian. This happened in Batman as well, with police and military officers who surrounded and seized public buildings with armed vehicles as if they were invading enemy territories. Consequently, it has become almost impossible for city dwellers to even access the municipalities that are supposed to provide them services. People of Batman, including elected MPs, co-mayors, city council members, have been resisting to this authoritarian crackdown to protect their democratic will and rights for days.
As the elected MPs, co-mayors, and city council members of Batman, we call upon international democratic actors, EU authorities, democratic countries, and activists to be in solidarity with the people of Batman and other Kurdish towns whose local democratic will is ruled out. We particularly invite international actors working in the field of democratic local governance to visit the Kurdish municipalities seized by Turkish state trustees.
MPS FOR BATMAN
AYŞE ACAR BAŞARAN
SAADET BECEREKLİ
MEHMET ALİ ASLAN
CO-MAYORS OF BATMAN
GÜLİSTAN AKEL
SABRİ ÖZDEMİR
CO-MAYORS OF BESIRI, DISTRICT OF BATMAN
MUSTAFA ÖZTÜRK VE DİCLE ERDEM
CO-MAYORS OF GERCUS, DISTRICT OF BATMAN
ABDULKERİM KAYA VE ZEYNEP ODUNCU
CO-MAYORS OF IKIKOPRU, COUNTY OF BATMAN
OSMAN KARABULUT VE HİDAYET TİRYAKİ
BATMAN CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
AHMET TEKİN
AYHAN SEVİM
BAYRAM DEMİR
BURHAN ŞAT
ESMA EFETÜRK
GÜLTEN TANGÜNER
HAMİDE ÇELİK
HÜLYA BALTAŞ
HÜRRİYET KAYTAR
İHSAN EKİNCİ
M.ALİ NASIROĞLU
M.HAKKI İPEK
MEHMET KARA
NASIR TAŞ
NECMİ DİLMAÇ
NEVAF TAŞ
NURİYE BAŞÇI
SABAHAT ACAR
SABİHA EKİNCİ
SEMRA GÜNEŞ
ŞEHİNAZ BARIŞ
ŞAZİYE KAYAR
UFUK BULUT
VEYSİ GEYİK
VİLDAN ERGÜL TİLEĞİ
ZEHRA GÖNÜL
DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBERS OF DBP
MELİKE KAYA
AYDIN KAYA
GURBET BOZYİĞİT
SÜLEYMAN SUNAR
AHMET TUNÇ
MEHMET KASAL
CENGİZ ÖTER
NASIR BALKI
HÜSEYİN AKMAN
SEYİTHAN BARAN
CENGİZ BARAN
NURAN ALTAN
NEZAHAT TOPRAK
MEHMET GÜZEL
YUSUF AVANAŞ
SEYFETTİN SOYSAL
OSMAN MEMİŞ
BEDRETTİN ÖZEK
MEHMET EŞREF BÜYÜKTOP
MEHMET ŞAH DOĞAN
FAİME KAÇAR
İZZETİTİN EREN
A.HALİM MERCİMEK
HALİT DEĞİRMENCİ
MÜZAFFER KANDEMİR
VEYSİ KILIÇASLAN
ABDULLAH SÖĞÜT
NASIR BADIR
HÜSEYİN ÖZPINAR
AYŞAN DİLBER
GÜLBAHAR ÜNER
MEHMET AVCI
HÜSEYİN ÖZSUNAR
M.KEMAL BAĞCI