Colemêrg (Hakkari)-The reactions to the removal of the elected Co-mayor of Hakkari and the appointment of a trustee to the municipality continue while women keep struggling to defend their will. “Hakkari was the first step. The judiciary has done its job and will continue to do so,” AKP’s President Erdoğan said on Thursday, signaling that other elected mayors of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) could be removed from office. “We do not want them or their trustees,” said the women of Colemêrg, reacting to the speech of Erdoğan.

 ‘They will lose here as they did in Van’

Emine Kaya went to Colemêrg from Amed (Diyarbakır) to support the people following the appointment of a trustee to the municipality in the city of Colemêrg on June 3. “Here, people stand firm. They are determined to defend their will. Erdoğan said that Hakkari was the first step but he was wrong; they first attempted to appoint a trustee to the municipality in the city of Van. But they faced the resistance of the people there. Now, they try to usurp the municipality in Colemêrg. They will lose here as they did in Van. Normally, when a mayor is arrested, one of the municipal council members is elected as the mayor; however, a trustee was appointed to the municipality of Colemêrg. This shows that their only concern is plunder and theft. They look for a way to appoint a trustee to our municipalities even if there is no reason. The AKP will lose by using such methods. The opposition must defend the will of the people and democracy.”

‘We do not want him or his trustee’

We do not want traitors and theft in our city, said Remziye Akboğa, a resident of the city. “We do not want a trustee. We will resist until we send the trustee back. This municipality is ours, not theirs. Everyone should defend the will of people. We do not want him (Erdoğan) or his trustee. I hope the same thing will happen to them.”

‘This coup against the will of people is unacceptable’

Gülsüm Taşkın told us that she, as a young person living in Colemêrg, would keep defending the will of the people in Colemêrg. “We never accept this oppression that we have suffered for years. I want, of course, the candidate I elected to be mayor and serve the people. The removal of the elected mayor is a coup against the will of people. We never accepted any kind of coup and we will never accept it. As a young person, I cannot receive any services from the municipality and find no one when I have a demand. This coup against the will of people is unacceptable. We will keep struggling against this coup.”

‘Threats reveal the policy of usurpation’

Sinem Seven, municipal council member in the city from the DEM Party, indicated that they would never allow any kind of trustee policy and oppression. “The last speech of Erdoğan reveals everything. They appoint trustees when they lose in the elections. We have been subjected to such a policy for three periods. But this year is different; the people defend their will to stop the usurpation of their will. They (the AKP) never recognize our will by arresting and killing us. Despite being arrested and killed, we will keep struggling against such policies.”

 The appointment of the trustee is the usurpation against the will of people, targeting women, Sinem Seven stressed, adding, “They want to destroy the co-presidency system. Municipalities are not only buildings for us, they are the gains of people, the memory. We will never allow any attacks on our memory and identity. We will never allow political massacres and trustees in Kurdistan. We will never obey. We will keep resisting in the streets and neighborhoods.”