Trustee appointed to Diyarbakır municipality

DİYARBAKIR

DHA Photo

A trustee was appointed to Diyarbakır Municipality on Nov. 1 after the arrests of the city’s mayors, Gültan Kışanak and Fırat Anlı, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Cumali Atilla, who was working as a district governor of the Etimesgut district in Ankara, was appointed as the trustee.

Earlier, trustees were appointed to two municipalities in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Sept. 8. The trustees were appointed to the Sur and Silvan municipalities upon a decision by the Diyarbakır Governor’s Office.
 
A court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır arrested Kışanak and Anlı late on Oct. 30 following their detention last week in the latest blow to opposition movements in Turkey.

The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office charged Kışanak with “being a member of an armed terrorist group,” while Anlı was charged with “trying to separate land under the state’s sovereignty.” 

Ayla Akat Ata, a former lawmaker of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), a forerunner of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was also arrested after being detained in a protest against the detentions of the co-mayors. Akat was charged with “managing a terrorist organization.”

HDP vows to oppose against presidential system

One of the co-leaders of the HDP restated the party’s strict opposition to the government’s plan to change the system of governance through a constitutional amendment, vowing to fight against any attempt to introduce “a dictatorship.”  

“If they have a proposal waiting in parliament, they should not postpone it any longer. We would like to see the stance of the lawmakers. How many courageous deputies are there who do not want to surrender the country to a dictator? We would like to see that,” HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş said Nov. 1 in an address to lawmakers in parliament. 

“Our stance is clear. If it is necessary to hit the streets, we will say ‘no’ to the dictatorship. Why don’t they bring it to the parliament?” he asked.