HDP: Arrest of Co-Mayors is Expel of Elected Ones

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Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair, Meral Danış Beştaş, stating that elected ones are being discharged illegally has reacted against the government.

“AKP (Justice and Development Party) has never given up to use jurisprudence as Damocles’ Sword on democratic politics and our whole organization ranging from our party’s co-chairs, MPs, administrators to its members”.

Co-mayors arrested

Beştaş expressed that 18 co-mayors have been arrested as of July over the possibility of declaring self-governance and that the number of elected ones arrested has climbed to 29.

According to the information Beştaş provided, the co-mayors arrested are as follows:

Dilek Hatipoğlu (Hakkari Central), Nurullah Çiftçi (Hakkari Central), Seyit Narin (Diyarbakır/Sur), Fatma Şık Barut (Diyarbakır/Sur),Yüksel Bodakçı (Diyarbakır/Silvan), Harun Erkuş (Diyarbakır/Lice), Rojbin Sevil Çetin (Van/Edremit), Handan Bağcı (Van/Özalp), Diba Keskin (Van/Erciş), Ali Özkan (Mardin/Mazıdağ), Nizamettin Özden(Ağrı/Diyadin), Ekrem Bingül (Kars/Digor), Şengül Erkmen (Kars/Digor),Şaziye Önder (Iğdır), Mehmet Gültekin (Iğdır/Tuzluca), Ali Çam(Iğdır/Hoşhaber), Kadir Özsular (Iğdır Provincal General Assembly Co-Chair), Evin Keve (DBP Çatak co-Mayor).

Kaya and Caniş

Danış labelled the jail term imposed on Van Co-Mayor, Bekir Kaya, as “the last circle of blow dealt on democratic-civil politics”.

“In the recent days, elected ones and politicians in Van including HDP Party Assembly member Cüneyt Caniş have been sentenced up to 156 years of imprisonment.

“Besides, the court has concluded the case from the upper penalty limit without receiving the defense of defendants and their attorneys”.

“The goal is to expel elected ones”

Other prominent remarks from Beştaş’s statement are as follows:

“It is the first time that a local administration without the presence of elected ones has been started to be mentioned and it is being practiced step by step.

“The goal of the Palace and AKP government is to expel the representatives of Kurdish people from political sphere on all levels.

“We call this government to stop committing crime and return to democratic politics”.

Davutoğlu: These municipalities will account for

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke at publicity meeting of projects of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality today (January 6) about the HDP-led municipalities.

“Some of these municipalities that function as the logistics center of terrorists will account for”.

“Dark channels”

“Now they started to speak of autonomy, self-governance. You are spending the money entrusted to you for anything but investment. People await service, these gentlemen dig ditches, build barricades, spend the facilities in these.

“There is no investment, nor practice but only violence, terror, barricade, ditch and all sorts of illegal structures. Their whole concern is polemics, ideology and terror. They spend people’s money in dark channels.

“They provide terrorists grader, truck, engineering vehicle. Some of these municipalities that function as the logistics center of terrorists will indeed account for it. They will account for this betrayal. We earn these resources with great efforts. They have to spend it for our citizens”. (YY/TK)