DEM Party seeks suspension of municipal takeover in Hakkari

The pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party has requested the suspension of the decision to replace the mayor of Hakkari, a Kurdish-populated city in the country’s east, with a government-appointed trustee.

In the local polls in March, DEM candidate Mehmet Sıddık Akış got 48.9% of the vote, narrowly defeating the ruling AKP’s candidate. The Interior Ministry, however, dismissed Akış as the mayor on June 3, citing a ‘terrorism’ case against him. 

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The DEM Party, in its petition, described the ministry’s action as a ‘coup’ and argued that trustee appointments are becoming a norm in Kurdish regions.

The petition asserts,  “Trustee appointments aim to exclude the [DEM] party and its political agenda from local governance, systematically seize municipalities won by an opposition political party, and undermine the electoral will of the [DEM] party's voters."

The DEM Party has also challenged the constitutionality of Articles 34 of Law No. 6758 and Article 45 of the Municipal Law, which provide the legal basis for such appointments, and requested the Constitutional Court to review these provisions. According to these provisions, the Interior Ministry is authorized to remove a local administrator if they have criminal investigations or cases against them on certain charges, including ‘terror’-related ones.

Trustee appointments in Kurdish regions

Since 2016, the Turkish government has been appointing trustees to municipalities primarily won by the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP). Following the 2019 local elections, the government seized control of nearly all of the 65 municipalities won by the HDP. 

Although the AKP government has not launched a large-scale trustee appointment campaign since its significant losses in the 2024 elections, the recent appointment in Hakkari indicates that the policy is still in effect. (EMK/VK)