Trustee was appointed in place of Petek Elyesa Çobanoğlu, co-mayor of Eğil district of Diyarbakır province, who was removed from office recently in the scope of an investigation by Eğil Public Prosecutor’s Office. District governor Kürşad Atak has taken the office of Çobanoğlu on Wednesday.

Out of the total 15 district municipalities in Diyarbakır, co-mayors of 11 have been removed and replaced by trustees in the recent process of the AKP government’s all-out attack against the elected representatives of the Kurdish citizens.

Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges. There are currently 13 HDP deputies behind bars. The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries.

March 9, 2017