Over 75% of voters in Kurdish cities against replacement of mayors

A survey conducted in 16 Kurdish-majority provinces, where elected mayors were replaced by trustees after the 2019 local elections, demonstrated that 75% of the public disapproves of this practice. 

Participants in the survey, comprising 51% of those who voted for the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party in the general elections in May, the successor to the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). 

21.8% of participants reported supporting the ruling AKP, while 14.1% voted for the main opposition party, the CHP. 

When asked about the replacement of mayors, only 13.1% of respondents said they "approve of the appointment of trustees." 

A significant 75.5% of those surveyed stated that they "disapprove of the appointment of trustees." 

Those who expressed being "neither in favor nor against" constituted 8% of respondents. 

Trustees are non-elected officials who are appointed by the central government to replace elected mayors who are accused of links to "terrorism" or other crimes. This practice has been widely used against the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) since 2016, when the government removed 95 HDP mayors from office and replaced them with trustees. 

The government continued this policy after the 2019 local elections, when the HDP won 65 municipalities in the Kurdish-majority provinces, but six of them were denied their certificates of election and 48 of them were later dismissed and replaced with trustees. The Council of Europe has found this practice to be contrary to international law and a serious violation of local democracy. 

The Green Left, which has changed its name to Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, is seeking to win back the local administrations in the upcoming local elections in March 2024. 

Party preferences breakdown 

Among AKP voters participating in the survey, 25.8% stated they "disapprove of trustees," while 50.2% expressed approval. 18.5% said they were "neither in favor nor against." 

84.6% of the voters of the MHP, the allies of the AKP, stated they "disapprove of trustee appointments," with only 7.7% approving. 

Among Green Left Party voters, 95.9% said they "disapprove of trustee appointments." 

While 83.7% of CHP voters disapproved of trustee appointments, 9.5% were undecided. 

85.7% of Good Party (İYİ Party) voters expressed disapproval of trustee appointments. 

41.7% of voters from the Welfare Party stated they disapprove of trustee appointments, 25% approved, and 33.3% expressed neither approval nor disapproval. 

67.9% of non-voting participants disapproved of trustee appointments, with only 3.8% expressing approval. (RT/VK)