News Center- Mehmet Sıddık Nakit, elected Co-mayor of the city of Hakkari from People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) by receiving 48.92 percent of votes in the local elections held in Türkiye on March 31, was taken into custody in the city of Van on Monday while the building of Hakkari Municipality was blockaded and raided by Turkish police.

Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that the ministry has removed Mehmet Sıddık Akış from office and replaced him with state-appointed trustee because “there is a case file No. 2014/173 at the Hakkari 1st High Criminal Court against Mehmet Sıddık Adım on charges of ‘leading an illegal organization’, ‘membership in an illegal organization’ and ‘propagandizing for an illegal organization’.”

According to the announcement, Hakkari governor Ali Çelik has been appointed as a trustee to the Hakkari Municipality.

Tuncer Bakırhan: We will not allow our will to be usurped by anyone

After the announcement of the state-appointed trustee to the municipality, DEM Party Co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan condemned the appointment of the trustee on their social media accounts.

“The detention of the mayor of Hakkari is a dark and dirty injustice. We reject this pro-coup and anti-Kurdish mindset. We will not allow our will to be usurped by anyone. We say enough. Such unlawful practices that will destroy Türkiye’s democratic future must be abandoned immediately. We call on everyone, especially democrats, revolutionaries and people defending peace to stand with the people of Hakkari and reveal their democratic reaction against this usurpation of will.

Tülay Hatimoğulları: We will never bow

Tülay Hatimoğulları also condemned the police raid on the building of Hakkari Municipality, the detention of the Co-mayor of Hakkari and the appointment of the trustee to the municipality. “We will never bow to the mindset that detained our Co-mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış and those who attempt to usurp our municipality by using police. This is an attack against not only the will of the people of Hakkari but also the people across Türkiye. We call on everyone defending democracy to take a stand against the appointment of the trustee.”

 “It is a coup attempt against the will of Hakkari,” the DEM Party said in a statement on X.