MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Sêrt (Siirt)- On January 28, Sofya Alağaş, Co-mayor of the Siirt Municipality and former editor of Jinnews, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on charges of “membership in an illegal organization” for her journalistic activities, before being elected as Co-mayor of Siirt.

Following the court decision, she was removed from office, replaced with a state-appointed trustee by the Turkish Ministry of Interior.

Since the local elections were held in Türkiye on March 31, 2024, the Turkish Ministry of Interior has appointed trustees to 10 municipalities, eight held by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and two by the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Attempt to appoint a trustee to the municipality of Van

Abdullah Zeydan was elected as the Co-mayor of Van in the 2024 local elections; however, the Van Provincial Election Board gave mandate to Abdulahat Arvas, AKP’s mayoral candidate for Van, who received 27,15% of votes although Abdullah Zeydan, DEM Party’s co-mayoral candidate for Van, got a majority of votes (55,48%). The decision sparked protests in the city of Van. On April 5, 2024, Abdullah Zeydan officially received the mandate to take up his role as mayor of Van.

Appointment of trustees

On June 3, 2024, a trustee was appointed to the municipality of Colemêrg (Hakkari) and Sıddık Akış, DEM Party’s Co-mayor of Colemêrg. On October 30, Ahmet Özer, CHP mayor of Istanbul's Esenyurt district, was detained and then sent to prison on charges of “membership in an illegal organization”; Ahmet Özer was replaced with Can Aksoy, deputy Governor of Istanbul.

Trustees appointed to 3 municipalities on November 4

On November 4, the Turkish Ministry of Interior removed the DEM Party’s Co-mayors of Mardin, Êlih (Batman) and Halfeti, a district of Riha (Urfa).

On November 22, trustees were appointed to the municipality of Dersim, won by the DEM Party, and the municipality of Pulur (Ovacık), won by the CHP. On November 29, Ayvaz Hazır, Mayor of the municipality of Van’s Miks (Bahçesaray) was removed from office, replaced with a state-appointed trustee.

On January 10, 2025, Nuriye Arslan and Hoşyar Sarıyıldız, Co-mayor of the municipality of Mersin’s Akdeniz district won by the DEM Party, were detained and then sent to prison. On January 14, a trustee was appointed to the municipality.

On January 28, Sofya Alağaş, Co-mayor of the Siirt Municipality and former editor of Jinnews, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on charges of “membership in an illegal organization” for her journalistic activities, before being elected as Co-mayor of Siirt. On January 29, a trustee was appointed to the municipality of Siirt.

Since 2016, the AKP government has implemented a trustee policy, usurping the will of people in more than 100 cities, districts and towns.

Who is Sofya Alağaş?

Sofya Alağaş was elected as the Co-mayor of Siirt by receiving a majority of votes (49,64 %) after working as a journalist for 17 years.

On June 8, 2022, she was detained along with 16 journalists in house raids conducted in Amed. On June 16, 2022, she was sent to prison On June 15, 2023, she was released from prison under judicial control, with a ban on travelling abroad.

Since the appointment of the trustee to the municipality of Siirt, women have gathered in front of the municipal building to protest the usurpation of their will. “We are not afraid, we will defend our will,” said Raziye Ekinci, one of the women.

‘We do not want an unelected person to sit in that seat’

“We do not recognize state-appointed mayors,” said Afife Erdem. “We did not elect them. We do not want an unelected person to sit in that seat.”

‘Theft cannot bring peace’

Atike Erdoğan also does not want a state-appointed mayor. “We did not elect the appointed trustee. The whole world should stand against the usurpation of our will now. We elected our Co-mayors to serve us; however, an appointed trustee will only serve his own supporters. This means theft. Theft and trustees cannot bring peace.”

 ‘They cannot bring the Kurds to knees’

Every trustee leaves a debt to the municipality, said Zere İnan. “The elected mayors of the DEM Party paid their debts to provide better service to the people. After the debt was paid off, they (the government) appointed a trustee to our municipality. They claim that they want ‘peace’; however, they kill children in Rojava. The Kurdish people will resist to the end. They cannot bring the Kurds to their knees.”

‘They will not win the elections again’

“All the trustees do is to eat and drink,” said Ayşe Taşçı, recalling the appointment of trustees since 2016. “We do not recognize this trustee. They have appointed trustees to our municipalities three times. Although they appoint trustees to our municipalities, they will not win the elections again.”