Kagizman Co-mayor Mehmet Alkan was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison for "terrorist organization membership" on 20 February, and District Governor Okan Daştan was appointed as trustee by the Ministry of Interior. Co-mayors Mehmet Alkan and Güner Hatay evaluated the decision to Mezopotamya Agency (MA).

 

Co-mayor Mehmet Alkan said that the decision to impose a prison sentence on him was unlawful and that they started a vigil at the municipality building against this decision. Stating that hundreds of police officers raided the municipality building around 02:30 am last night, Alkan said that what was done was unlawful and that they did not sign the notification decision.

 

Stating that they are the elected co-mayors of the people, Alkan said that the trustee practice has been in place for years and that the government has usurped the municipalities they could not win with trustees. Alkan said, "We have been in this struggle for 40 years. We have always been among the people since the day we started the struggle and we will be among our people from now on. We will continue to deal with the problems of our people and produce solutions. Our struggle is not limited to a municipality building. We will expand our struggle to all areas of life wherever we are."

 

Co-mayor of Kagizman Municipality Güner Hatay also stated that they are keeping watch in the municipality building to protect the will of the people. Güner Hatay said that they started working by identifying the problems in the city since they took office. "We produced 10 years of work in the 10 months we were in office, but now our municipality has been unlawfully usurped," she said.

 

Stating that the trustee decision is a usurpation of will and that they do not recognise this decision, Güner Hatay added, "There is a struggle that the Kurdish people have been waging for many years. We are also part of this struggle. We will continue our struggle until democracy and peace come to these lands."

 

MA / Ömer Akın