ANKARA- Speaking in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said: “Realizing that it will lose its seat, AKP has once again made a coup against the will of the people.” Sezai Temelli called for a united struggle against unlawful acts such as isolation and trusteeships. 

 

Deputy Group Deputy Chairpersons of Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit and Sezai Temelli made a statement in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the trustees appointed to municipalities.

 

Koçyiğit said that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has been carrying out a “coup” against the will of the people since 2016, pointing out that the government is still feeding on the state of emergency declared after the military uprising in 2016, “Every day, it deals blow after blow to democracy, to the ballot box, to the will of the people. We are faced with a ruling mind that does not respect the ballot box, does not respect the people, and ignores the right to vote and be elected every day,” she said.   

 

'LAWLESSNESS IS FIRST TESTED IN KURDISH GEOGRAPHY'

 

Koçyiğit said: “We said this when trustees were appointed in 2016. Today's appointment of trustees in Hakkari, Van, Mardin and Diyarbakır is a harbinger of the appointment of trustees in Izmir, Adana, Mersin and Istanbul tomorrow. In this country, lawlessness is first tested in the Kurdish geography. All unlawful acts are first committed against the Kurdish people. But you should know that any lawlessness against the Kurdish people is never, ever limited to that region. From there, it spreads to all provinces and all over the country.

 

THEY WANT TO EXPAND THE COUP

 

They want to start a new process that denies all of us the right to vote and be elected, that denies the right to citizenship, that denies the democracy of the ballot box. This is very clear and unambiguous. They want to march forward by expanding the coup. Today, we need to stand side by side against this government, unite and defend democracy together.

 

WE WILL BUILD A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

 

On the one hand they say peace and on the other hand they appoint trustees. The path to peace does not pass through trusteeship. Today there is a trustee regime poisoning the peace environment. If all the peoples of Turkey come side by side, if we build bridges of brotherhood from Esenyurt to Hakkari, if we build bridges of democracy from Esenyurt to Hakkari, then we will defeat this power, this fascism. Despite the AKP, we will build the Democratic Republic in this country. 

 

Let's stand side by side, let's stand hand in hand, let's stand shoulder to shoulder and destroy this fascism. Let's build the Democratic Republic. Let's build the peace that the peoples of Turkey long for. Let's find a way to live together in an equal, free and democratic country.”

 

TRUSTEE SYSTEM 

 

Taking the floor after Koçyiğit, DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Sezai Temelli stated that there is a process in which appointed and elected people are facing each other and said: “In fact, we are standing in a place that shows how distorted, how antidemocratic, how lawless the system is. While they are carrying out these actions against those who have not received a single vote but were elected with the votes of the people, they are actually destroying Turkey's hopes for democracy and peace. They are almost dynamiting the expectations and hopes for social peace. This mentality cannot survive with an understanding that ignores peace. The Presidential Government System is actually a trustee system. It cannot go beyond that. It comes back to the same place.

 

THE MINDSET HAS NOT CHANGED, THE PACKAGING IS THE SAME 

 

We asked the current Interior Minister what kind of Interior Minister he would be. He said, 'I will not be like my predecessors. I will do what the law says, this is how I will act'. It turned out that the mentality had not changed at all, the packaging was different. By taking refuge in a decree law issued during the state of emergency, a decree law issued in a coup period and within the mechanics of a coup. By taking refuge in it, he can digest ignoring today's legal system and acting against it with a putschist mind. We do not accept this. A mentality that has not received a single vote will come and impose this tutelage against those elected with the votes of millions of people. We do not accept this. And because we do not accept this, we are in the fields, in the streets, we are struggling.

 

TRUSTEE COMMITTED TEN CRIMES IN TEN DAYS

 

Although it has only been 10 days since the trustees arrived, each trustee has committed at least 10 crimes. Because when we look back, the actions of the trustees during the 8 years from 2016 to 2024 are criminal actions. The files are obvious, their corruption, extortion and all their illegal actions are obvious.  We do not accept this and we will fight against it. The DEM Party is at the forefront of this struggle today.

 

CALL FOR COMMON STRUGGLE 

 

If you want to live in a country where the rule of law prevails. If you are looking for peace, you must oppose the trusteeship. Today, the understanding of isolation, which has dynamited the rule of law, has rotted everywhere in this country for 25 years. It continues to rot. Those who made a plan to collapse fell under that plan, they collapsed. So now it is time to stand together for law, democracy and peace. We must stand together against isolation, against political imprisonment, against all other trusteeships, against everything that is unlawful. From here, we once again invite all those in favor of democracy, women, laborers, all the victimized and exploited people of this people to stand side by side in this struggle.”