Co-Mayors of Patnos Municipality released

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The co-mayors of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) in the Patnos district of Ağrı, Müşerref Geçer and Emrah Kılıç, along with the Human Resources Manager of the municipality, Uğur Laçin, were released yesterday after three months of detention.

The co-mayors and the HR manager had been detained on June 9 on charges of "interfering with the procurement process" and were subsequently arrested on June 12.

It's worth noting that Ağrı Patnos Municipality is one of the six municipalities under HDP's control. In the local elections of March 31, 2019, HDP had won 65 municipalities, with 48 of them having trustees appointed to replace the elected mayors. The mandates of six mayors were revoked immediately after the elections based on government decrees (KHK), while four mayors left their positions either through dismissal or resignation. Additionally, one mayor who was elected through an alliance later switched to the other party.

Ağrı Patnos Municipality remained one of the six municipalities still governed by HDP, consisting of 4 districts and 2 towns.