Trustee mayors pillage Diyarbakır, CHP MP Tanrıkulu says

Duvar English

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmker Sezgin Tanrıkulu on Nov. 14 spoke in parliament about the corruption allegations regarding trustee mayors of the southeastern Diyarbakır province. Tanrıkulu questioned the zoning developments enacted by trustee mayors and requested multipartisan and transparent investigations into their corrupt practices.

Tanrıkulu said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) took advantage of the July 15 coup attempt to disregard the will of Kurdish citizens living in the eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey.

“The people of the region have been facing a de facto coup administration for seven years since then,” the Diyarbakır deputy added. 

Central government have dismissed numerous elected mayors from particularly pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) after 2016 and placed trustee bureucrats as "temporary substitutes."

He reminded the parliament of the corruption allegations against the trustee-appointed municipalities and brought attention to the questionable zoning development practices in the Bağlar and Kayapınar districts in Diyarbakır. “Immense changes are approved with only one person’s signature,” he criticized. 

Tanrıkulu added that the trustees were “pillaging” the province and the government were accountable for these practices. “The AKP is the shareholder of all the shady collaborations, the dirty money, and acquisitions,” he said and suggested the government would not allow such practices if it did not benefit from the profits.