Protests continue after government-appointed trustees took over pro-Kurdish municipalities on Nov 4, replacing elected officials. In Batman, one of the cities where protests have been the strongest, prominent Kurdish politicians and women’s rights activists, including former MP Sebahat Tuncel, Batman’s first woman MP Ayla Akat Ata, Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Women’s Assembly Spokesperson Halide Türkoğlu, and Socialist Women’s Assembly (SKM) Central Committee Member Satiye Ok, addressed a Nov 5 protest organized by women.
Women gathered with DEM Party representatives, dancing and chanting slogans like “Jin, jiyan, azadî” (“Women, life, freedom”) and “Solidarity with resisting women from Batman to Rojava to Iran” before the speeches began.
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‘Feminists reject the trustee imposition’
The first speaker, Berfin Atlı, representing feminists, expressed dismay at the replacement of municipal officials with trustees, stating, “Our cities belonged to the people. Now, in Batman, it’s as if we’re under siege. That’s what the trustee represents—the denial of Kurdish voting rights and the erasure of women from public spaces. In cities where trustees take over, women are increasingly isolated, their deaths hidden as suicides become normalized.”
She continued, “We, feminists, oppose this trustee policy just as we always have. Batman is where we voted this mindset out of office decisively. We know that without equality, democracy, and freedom, there can be no peace. Trustees do not offer peace. Batman belongs to its people, and with solidarity, we will remove the trustees.”
‘The people’s fight for existence continues’
Batman’s first female MP, Ayla Akat Ata, spoke next, asserting that Batman’s co-mayor, Gülistan Sönük, represents the people’s will, while trustees only represent plunder and oppression.
Ata remarked, “Those who once advocated for peace are now imposing trustees on our municipalities. They mock the people by claiming to stand by their word, yet we face barriers. But these barriers should be placed in front of those who harm women, not us. No police barricades can enclose the philosophy and vision we uphold.”
She added, “Our democratic, ecological, and women’s rights-focused governance philosophy is strongly demonstrated by Batman’s historic support for a female co-mayor in a conservative city. This ideology draws strength from the opposition to past injustices, unpunished violence, and the struggles against gendered oppression since the 1990s.”
‘Cultural genocide’
Socialist Women’s Assembly (SKM) representative Satiye Ok highlighted that the AKP-MHP government has been ruling over Kurdistan through trustee appointments for the past eight years, a tactic that women continue to resist.
Following her, Kurdish politician Sebahat Tuncel emphasized that the pressures on Kurdish identity, language, and cultural presence represent a form of colonial law.
Tuncel said, “They’re imposing cultural genocide on the Kurdish people through our municipalities. We will never accept this.”
She added, “Those in Ankara try to dictate our future. They once called for Abdullah Öcalan to speak in parliament, then turned around and appointed trustees. The isolation imposed on Öcalan continues, making it impossible to speak of freedom or peace. But this does not mean we will stop insisting on freedom and peace. Just like all other peoples of the world, the Kurdish people have inalienable rights.”
‘No barrier can stand in our way’
DEM Party Women’s Assembly Spokesperson Halide Türkoğlu declared that women will continue to speak out against both the trustees and the “one-man rule” system:
“No barrier can stop us where there is resistance. We will dismantle the barriers imposed by trustees through solidarity and determination. The trusteeship model does not deter the Kurdish people; it only reinforces our resilience and growth.”
After the speakers, Batman’s elected co-mayor Gülistan Sönük expressed gratitude to the women who came to show their support:
“They may have appointed trustees over these walls, but they cannot remove us from the streets. We will not abandon these spaces.”
Return of trustees
The Interior Ministry replaced the mayor of İstanbul's Esenyurt district, run by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Oct 31, citing a "terrorism" investigation into the mayor. This was followed by the removal of the mayors of the cities of Mardin and Batman, and Urfa's Halfeti district, controlled by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party on Nov 4, on the grounds of ongoing "terrorism-related" criminal cases against them. The ministry has appointed governors and district governors as trustees in the place of the mayors.
Under Turkish law, the interior ministry has the authority to suspend mayors under criminal investigation, appointing trustees to act in their stead. The trustee has the authority to dissolve municipal councils, legislative body of municipalities, which are separately elected bodies typically composed of members from various political parties.
The government widely implemented trustee policies during the period of state of emergency following a failed coup in 2016, taking over almost all municipalities run by the HDP in the country’s Kurdish-populated regions. The party regained the municipalities in the 2019 election by winning the elections in 65 municipal areas, including eight cities. However, all but five district and town municipalities were eventually taken over by the government in the following months, citing “terrorism” investigations and cases against the mayors.
The DEM Party, the HDP’s successor, won 11 cities among 75 municipalities in the 2024 polls. The government has so far refrained from a widespread takeover of municipalities but appointed a trustee to the Hakkari city in June. With the most recent takeovers, the DEM has lost three of the 11 cities it won.
(ED/VK)
