The protests that started after the appointment of trustees to Mêrdîn (Mardin) Metropolitan, Êlih (Batman) and Xelfetî (Halfeti-Urfa) municipalities, which the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) won once again in the March 31 local elections, continue.  While protests against the will usurpation took place in many places, citizens started a vigil in front of Mêrdîn Metropolitan Municipality, one of the centers where the usurpation took place, and demanded an end to the will usurpation. 

 

80 YEARS OLD AT THE VIGIL

 

80-year-old Mehmet Zeki Doğan, who joined the protests that started in front of the municipality in the morning with the news of the trustee appointment with his cane, stated that Kurdish rights have been usurped since time immemorial. Doğan explained the appointment of the trustee with a poem in Kurdish and said: “Everyone should protect their own will, everyone should be governed by their own will. No one has the right to commit such oppression. They will surely find their doom in this way. God will give them a punishment for this oppression. Everyone will get what they deserve in all four parts of Kurdistan and in other parts of the world. Today the people here are seeking their rights. They are claiming their will. It is their right to resist.”

 

 'ON THE ONE HAND THEY REACH OUT AND ON THE OTHER HAND THEY SHOOT'

 

Hüsnü Ekrem, who came to Mêrdîn as a guest from Izmir and joined the demonstration in front of the municipality building as soon as he heard the news of the trustee, “We are not afraid of dungeons nor death. Until yesterday, they were offering us Kurds a state. They were extending their hands. So, they are stalling us on the one hand and shooting us on the other. We do not accept this. We will not accept it as long as we have a drop of blood,” he said. 

 

Ekrem said that his father did military service for 7 years due to mobilization, but Kurds in Turkey have been under oppression for a century and said: “We need to unite and establish our unity in all four parts of Kurdistan against this.” 

 

Mehmet Ezgi, one of the citizens, stated that the trusteeship is not legal, it is a usurpation of the will “We must stand against the usurpation of our will. We do not accept this. We want peace. It is the will of the people. We condemn what is being done against the will of the people,” he said.

 

'MÊRDÎN IS OURS'

 

Halime Kaya from the Peace Mothers Assembly stated that they will not surrender their will and said: “No matter how many trustees the AKP appoints, if the governor has any conscience or faith, he should not sit on the will of this people. If he sits there, he has no faith, no conscience and no humanity left. Mêrdîn is ours. Whether they live or die, whether they appoint trustees or whatever they do, Mêrdîn is ours. The municipality is our municipality. As long as we exist, we will pursue our cause. We will defend our municipalities. Kurdistan is ours. Mêrdîn is ours. Let them get out of here. They have nothing here. Let them get out of here. Let them get out of Mêrdîn. Mêrdîn is our Mêrdîn. The governor cannot sit there. He must get out of there. It is the place of the people. It is the will of all of us.” 

 

'EVERYONE MUST STAND UP'

 

Nure Tarlak, who stated that they do not accept the trustee no matter what, said the following: “The trustee cannot set foot on our land, our homeland. The homeland is our homeland, the land is our land. The municipality is our municipality. If they had any mercy, they could not come and appoint trustees to our municipality in our homeland. We do not go to their homeland and take their municipalities by force. They should not come to our municipality, they should not come to our homeland. We don't want them. Long live the resistance. The Kurdish people must stand up, no one should sit at home. Everyone must stand up, regardless of whether they are full or hungry. Just as everyone stood up in Wan and we took back our municipality, we must do the same here. Everyone must stand up, open their eyes and ears. We will not leave our lands to anyone.”

 

MA / Ahmet Kanbal - Ömer Akın