Home > Politics News > DEM Party MP Sırrı Sakık tells 12punto: 'It exists for CHP but not for Kurds, two municipalities, two separate legal systems'

DEM Party MP Sırrı Sakık tells 12punto: 'It exists for CHP but not for Kurds, two municipalities, two separate legal systems'

Following the operation conducted against the Hakkari Municipality, which the DEM Party won on March 31, Co-Mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış was detained and a trustee was appointed to the municipality. In his statement to 12punto, DEM Party Ağrı MP Sırrı Sakık said, "When the CHP Antalya Kepez Mayor was arrested, the Municipal Council held an election and determined the new mayor. No trustee was appointed. But a trustee was appointed while the Hakkari Mayor's trial was ongoing. Two municipalities, two separate legal systems!"

Burak Demirbaş

Burak DEMİRBAŞ-12punto.com.tr

Hakkari Municipality, which the DEM Party won with 48.92 percent of the vote in the March 31 local elections, saw Co-Mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış detained, and Hakkari Governor Ali Çelik was appointed in his place.

"TWO MUNICIPALITIES, TWO SEPARATE LEGAL SYSTEMS"

Evaluating the issue, DEM Party Ağrı MP Sırrı Sakık stated, "There is no legal justification for the trustee appointed to the Hakkari Municipality; this is a complete coup. There are elections in the country, but Kurds have no right to vote or be elected!"

Sakık also commented on the decision:

"When the CHP Antalya Kepez Mayor was arrested, the Municipal Council held an election and determined the new mayor. No trustee was appointed. But a trustee was appointed while the Hakkari Mayor's trial was ongoing. Two municipalities, two separate legal systems!" he said.

Evaluating the trustee decision for 12punto, Sakık said the following:

"YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THIS WILL"

"They are trying to retry a method that has been tested for many years. Then there is no need for you to hold elections at all. There is neither a moral nor a conscientious justification for holding elections and then appointing trustees whenever you wish.

I am in Hilvan, Urfa. The people of Hilvan gave you a good answer. Now, I am addressing the entire Turkish public. For God's sake, what should we do now? We come from a political tradition that attaches such importance to democratic elections and strives so hard, yet despite all the insistence, there is a mindset that says, 'No, you cannot govern yourselves.'

These are a government that grants amnesties to gangs and mafias whenever they want, and hosts them in Parliament with protocols. Today, an investigation is opened, today he is detained. A trustee is appointed immediately. Well, recently in the Kepez district of Antalya, a CHP mayor was arrested, and a mayor was elected from among the existing municipal council members to replace him. Why don't you do this in the Kurdish geography? You committed all kinds of lawlessness during the elections; those representing the state there acted as your provincial chairs, but the people expressed their will. You are taking what you could not win today by appointing trustees. Then there is no point in holding an election. If you say, in one word, that the Kurdish geography and Kurds do not have the right to vote or be elected, then we would understand. But if you hold elections on one hand, and when mayors who do not suit your will emerge on the other, you lift immunities and appoint trustees—doesn't any government learn a lesson from what has happened? These policies of yours have failed. The Kurdish people want to govern themselves. The Kurdish people go to the ballot box within the framework provided by the Constitution. You will recognize this will; this is not a favor."

"WE WILL NOT ALLOW IT"

When asked whether the trustee practice would continue, Sakık replied, "We will not allow this. In every area of life, against this lawlessness, together with our people, every conscientious person in the Turkish democratic system—not just us, but every conscientious person within the AKP—must take a stand on the side of the victim against this practice. We will not allow this."

"TODAY IT IS HAKKARI, TOMORROW IT WILL BE ISTANBUL"

Upon being reminded of CHP leader Özgür Özel's social media post, "We stand with democracy and the will of the people, and against the trustee mentality!", Sakık said the following:

"This question is not just the problem of the DEM Party and the Kurds; it is the common problem of all peoples and political parties in Turkey. Either you do not believe in elections and do not hold them, or you pass a law and put it in the Constitution; if they say 'Kurds are exempt from voting and being elected,' we would understand.

If you are going to go to the ballot box, Mr. Özgür and all political parties must take a stance; they must show a reaction without any 'ifs' or 'buts.' Today it is Hakkari, tomorrow it will be Istanbul. It will be another city; we have already seen that these kinds of things progress step by step. The CHP made a huge mistake regarding immunity; today they themselves are going [to court] dozens of times. Kılıçdaroğlu, who personally voted 'yes' to the lifting of immunities, went to visit Selahattin Demirtaş in Edirne Prison the other day. From today on, Mr. Özgür and other political party leaders must also protect the laws and the Constitution against this lawlessness. They must show respect for the will of the Kurds."

Attorney Dr. Mehmet Ruşen Gültekin, in his evaluation to 12punto regarding the decision, stated that the practice passed through Parliament via an omnibus bill and that the decision is unlawful.

PRINCIPLE OF PERSONAL LIABILITY OF PUNISHMENT

Gültekin's evaluations are as follows:

"There was a case against the Hakkari Mayor at the Hakkari 1st High Criminal Court. There was also an investigation, and citing this as a reason, security forces raided the Hakkari Municipality today, removed him from office, and appointed the governor.

Articles 45-46 of Law No. 5393 were implemented according to Decree-Laws (KHK). Following the bloody coup attempt of July 15, the appointment of trustees to municipalities was permitted via KHK. This law did not pass through Parliament. Because the Constitutional Court said, 'I will not review these KHKs,' it passed straight through the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) via an Omnibus Law.

Normally, what should happen, according to the principle of personal liability of punishment, is that if there is such a terror investigation against a mayor, the mayor would be removed from office and a mayor would be elected from the municipal council. But after such a regulation was made, we saw the trustee practice in all HDP municipalities after the 2019 elections."

"WE SAW THIS MOVIE IN 2019"

"First of all, one must emphasize the lawlessness of this. The second point is this: these are investigations opened against the Hakkari Mayor 10 years ago. Why haven't investigations opened 10 years ago been concluded until now? Is there no presumption of innocence for this mayor? The Supreme Election Council (YSK) gave authorization that this person could be mayor. Is there any evidence that he committed a new crime after the March 31 elections? No. Despite this, removing the Hakkari Mayor from office by using a 10-year-old investigation and prosecution as an excuse is, of course, unlawful. The prosecutor's allegations are very serious; when you read them, you say, 'Why should the Hakkari Mayor be mayor?' but on the other hand, this is an investigation conducted 10 years ago. Like the Kobani Investigation. The Kobani events took place in 2014. When was the indictment prepared? January 7, 2022. We are talking about something that has continued politically after the Kurdish opening ended. There is a great lawlessness here, a great injustice. Regarding these, we can now have a foresight that these decisions will come to other municipalities. Because in this period, they can remove anyone who has an investigation from the past from office, or they can open a new investigation and remove them. We saw and talked about this movie in 2019."

THE KEPEZ EXAMPLE

Regarding the Kepez decision cited by DEM Party members, Gültekin stated the following:

"The investigation of the Kepez Municipality was for 'causing injury and death by negligence,' but the appointment of a trustee to the municipal law in this regard is for 'being affiliated with terrorism' and an investigation and prosecution due to terrorism. Therefore, the statement of the DEM Party members is also not correct; they are also creating a perception. Since Kepez Municipality was not about terrorism, a mayor was elected from the municipal council. In the other case, when there is terrorism, a trustee is appointed."