Trustee crisis in Kağızman: Reactions follow one after another
The removal of Kağızman Mayor Mehmet Alkan from office and the appointment of Kağızman District Governor Okan Daştan as a trustee in his place have sparked reactions. The DEM Party, CHP, and other opposition parties condemned the appointment of the trustee, describing it as a blow to the will of the people, and emphasized that this is an unlawful and anti-democratic practice. It was underscored that this step represents the AKP government declaring war on the results of the local elections.
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Reactions are pouring in following the removal of Kağızman Mayor Mehmet Alkan from office and the appointment of Kağızman District Governor Okan Daştan in his place.
DEM Party: Those who fear the will of the people are at it again! The trustee appointed to the Kars Kağızman Municipality is a war declared by the AKP government against the people's right to vote and be elected. Our municipalities are being targeted because they serve the people and disrupt the order of corruption. However, neither we nor our people will accept these trustee seizures. We do not recognize this coup against democracy, the will of the people, and our elected municipal co-chairs! The trustee regime will collapse, and the people will win!
DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan: Unable to digest the municipalities we won on March 31 despite all the ballot box fraud, the AKP government is not abandoning the trustee policy it has maintained for three terms. Those who have signed their names to a disgrace by ignoring the will of the people have now appointed a trustee to our Kağızman Municipality. The trustee regime operates like a staged scene. The judiciary, the Ministry of Interior, and law enforcement act simultaneously as if a button were pressed from a central command. Even before the hearing begins, the municipal building is blockaded, and the trustee is waiting ready in front of the building. Meanwhile, the Governor declares a 10-day ban on protests in Kars. With these practices that are reminiscent of September 12, state of emergency processes, and coup eras, the will of the people of Kağızman is being openly seized; even entry and exit to the district are being banned.
We will never accept this injustice, unfairness, and dishonor! Trustees represent lawlessness, corruption, and plunder. But let them not forget, they will go, and we will remain! The will of the people will prevail!”
DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit:
Our Kağızman Municipality has also been usurped. The AKP, which uses an unconstitutional state of emergency decree as a 'gift from God' for its own power, has declared war on the will of the people. This regime, which disregards elections and the will of the people, will certainly be defeated. We will take back our Kağızman Municipality and all our other municipalities where trustees have been appointed. The trustee order will be demolished, and the will of the people will prevail.
CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut:
Not even a year has passed since the March 31 elections, and the government has seized 12 municipalities it could not win in the elections through backroom maneuvers. Appointing a trustee to the Kağızman Municipality is a blow struck against the will of the people of Kağızman and against democracy. We reject this lawlessness, this hostility toward democracy, and this trustee tyranny.