The protests against the usurpation of the municipality of Batman on 4 November continue on the 10th day. Masses gathered at Yılmaz Güney Park and marched towards Basın Junction in the city centre. Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Keskin Bayındır also took part in the protest march.
Addressing the crowd, DEM Party Provincial Co-Chair Songül Korkmaz emphasised that their resistance will continue, while DEM Party Hakkari MP Öznur Bartın said “The will of the people is attacked through trustees. The resistance of the people will not allow this.”
DBP Co-Chair Keskin Bayindir said, “We started resistance against the usurpation of will. No one should try to criminalise this resistance. Those who do not contribute to this resistance should respect it. Turkey’s approach to the Kurds is the same as its approach to Batman. Massacre, exile, usurpation of will, all these things happened here. Take a good look at the resistance of Batman. The people of the city have never backed down and never will.”
Bayındır continued: “No matter what they do, they cannot defeat a people who have adopted freedom as a principle. The government is in the wrong way. After every trustee appointment, our people took the municipalities back from the occupiers. The government has no policy other than Kurdish enmity. They should give up this policy. The loss to be caused by their Kurdish enmity would be great. Whoever is hostile to the Kurds would lose big. The Kurdish issue is bigger than the AKP-MHP government.”
Stating that the policies of the AKP-MHP government are ‘two-faced policies’, Bayındır said, “Those who say peace on the one hand, impose isolation on the interlocutor of peace on the other. You are keeping the interlocutor of peace, freedom and brotherhood under isolation. If a solution is desired, the interlocutor is Mr Öcalan. The rest is struggle and resistance. The President says, ‘The path to democratic politics is open’. Look, our municipality is surrounded by a blockade. The path to democratic politics in Kurdistan is closed to the Kurdish people and their politicians. They tell us not to raise our heads, not to resist. They ask the Kurdish people who resist this oppression why they resist. The Kurdish people will resist in the streets and neighbourhoods against the policies of oppression and persecution. You will not see a single Kurd who bows down. On 17 November a big rally will be held in Batman, and we want all our people to take part in this resistance. This rally is for the freedom of Mr Öcalan and for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. This rally is for the opening of the way for democratic politics.”
The people’s demonstration at Basın Junction continues.
