‘Why do you cover up corruption of trustees,’ HDP’s Paylan asks Minister of Interior

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır MP Garo Paylan has submitted a Parliamentary question about the appointment of trustees to the party's municipalities in Turkey's eastern and southeastern provinces and the unlawful practices going on in the region as a result of this.

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In his Parliamentary question addressed to Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, HDP's Garo Paylan has referred to the words of President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before the last local elections on March 31, 2019.

In his related speech, Erdoğan said, "If they come out of the ballot box, we will move on by appointing trustees without waiting a second."

Indicating that "Soylu fulfilled the instruction of Erdoğan one day after the March 31 local elections," Paylan has said, "On April 1, 2019, you wrote the first document that started the coup by trustees."

"On August 19, 2019, you dismissed the elected Co-Mayors of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van with a 'Coup by Trustees.' You have appointed trustees to 47 of 65 municipalities won by the HDP candidates with people's will," Paylan has indicated further and briefly added:

"The trustee policies have become solid evidence of the enemy law that your government has been pursuing against Kurdish people. The trustee coups have dealt a major blow to democracy.

"With the appointment of trustees, the representation of women has been disregarded. Politics of plunder and unearned income has entered into effect. The policies of assimilation and Turkification have gained pace.

"You, as the Minister of Interior, has become the implementer and defender of the 'Trustee Coup' politics pursued by the center."

Against this backdrop, HDP's Paylan has asked Minister Soylu:

• Why do you cover up the plunder and corruption of your trustees that are also proved and revealed by the Court of Accounts reports?
• Considering that you prevent the elected Municipal Council members of our trustee-appointed municipalities from entering the municipality and fulfilling their duties, do you do this because you fear that they will disclose the corruption of trustees?
• Is it possible that the silence that you maintain in the face of plunder and unlawful acts of trustees is related to the "enemy politics" that you have been pursuing against the HDP and the elected?
• Are you aware that you will go down in history as a Minister of Interior who dealt a blow to peace and democracy and imposed an imperialist law on Kurdish people with the appointment of trustees?

(HA/SD)