Gallery: Dozens detained in ‘trustee’ protests amid violent police response

Violent police response in Batman

Members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party organized the protests in Batman. While the protests outside the municipal hall continued throughout the day, party members spread to the city on the other hand, visiting shops and coffee houses to gather support and raise awareness.

Videos shared on social media showed some protesters being detained forcefully, with detentions reportedly totaling dozens.

🔴 Batman Belediyesi önündeki müdahale sırasında polis, bir yurttaşı gözaltına alırken kafasına yumruk attı.

📹: @_evrimdnz pic.twitter.com/39IA9ALNvF

— bianet (@bianet_org) November 4, 2024

Despite the arrests, protests continued into the night, with some demonstrators setting fires and using trash containers to build barricades.

Batman’da kayyım protestoları sokaklarda devam ediyor

Belediye Eş Başkanı Gülistan Sönük, Batman sokaklarında dolaşarak halkı, yarın kayyım atamasına karşı yapılacak yürüyüşe davet etti.

📹: @_evrimdnz pic.twitter.com/otYuUMy6y5

— bianet (@bianet_org) November 4, 2024

Police responded with tear gas and armored vehicles, and MA reported that 75 people were detained in Batman alone.

İstanbul

Protests were also held in İstanbul’s Esenyurt district, where a crowd led by the DEM Party gathered to condemn the appointments, chanting slogans such as “Kurdistan will be a grave for fascism.”

Esenyurt'ta kayyıma karşı direniş başlatan yurttaşlar, “Kürdistan faşizme mezar olacak” sloganlarıyla yürüyüş gerçekleştirdihttps://t.co/mAhuVuGkBt pic.twitter.com/aX5gZEToaA

— Mezopotamya Ajansı (@MAturkce) November 4, 2024

Protesters in Esenyurt, where last week’s arrest of Mayor Ahmet Özer, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), had already stirred tensions, set fires and blockaded streets with containers. Police responded with tear gas, and several people were detained.

Esenyurt'ta kayyıma karşı direniş başlatan yurttaşlar, “Kürdistan faşizme mezar olacak” sloganlarıyla yürüyüş gerçekleştirdihttps://t.co/mAhuVuGkBt pic.twitter.com/aX5gZEToaA

— Mezopotamya Ajansı (@MAturkce) November 4, 2024

Mardin

In Mardin, protests continued through the night, with crowds gathering outside the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality. Demonstrators assembled around fires, singing and maintaining a sit-in protest as the police looked on.

DEM Party Mardin MP Beritan Güneş addressed the crowd, saying, “At a time when peace discussions were raising hope among people, this appointment marks the third such intervention on the will of the people.”

Güneş noted that the timing of the appointments coincided with the anniversary of a major crackdown on HDP, DEM’s predecessor, adding, “It’s clear the government continues its pressure campaign on the Kurdish people.” (VK)