With the appointment of a trustee to the Istanbul Provincial Organization of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), on the evening of 7 September, the roads leading to the CHP provincial and office buildings were blockaded and there was an attack on the vigil that CHP members had begun against the trustee.
Police did not allow anyone but MPs to enter. In the morning, DEM Party Istanbul MP Celal Fırat went to the CHP building in solidarity and shared his assessment of the situation with ANF.
Fırat said: “The court decision concerning the CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency and the subsequent blockade and appointment of a trustee is an overt coup against the people’s will. Since the evening of 7 September, when the trustee decision was issued, we have joined the justice vigil in front of the CHP Istanbul building to strengthen solidarity. The building has been besieged under the logic of trusteeship. This illegality is not only an attack on one party but on the future of the entire democratic order. Appointing administrators in place of representatives elected by the people means disregarding political choices. Today’s measure against the CHP has been used countless times in the past against the DEM Party and the mayors elected by the people; their mandates were seized, the people’s right to a voice was denied. That the same illegality once imposed on municipalities is now extended to political parties shows the grave state of Turkish democracy.”
Not only silencing, but aimed at eliminating all achievements
Fırat added: “The use of trustees has evolved into a systematic governing approach targeting the will of different segments of society. Trustees imposed on our municipalities have plundered the values that people built over many years, squandered public resources, and destroyed local democracy. The trusteeship now imposed on the CHP makes clear the government’s intent not only to silence the opposition but to dismantle all democratic gains. By targeting different parties and viewpoints, the government is sending the message that ‘anyone could be next.’ It is clear that this poses a grave threat not only to one political party but to democracy as a whole.”
The policy of appointing trustees must be abandoned immediately
Fırat continued: “We in the DEM Party, have long said that trustee practices usurp the will of our peoples, destroy democratic values, and harm social peace. What is being done to the CHP today is a new link in this chain. Just as our peoples lost out in the past through trustees, the same danger is growing today. Democracy can survive only through the acceptance of diversity, pluralism, and the people’s free will. Our call is clear: the trustee mindset must be abandoned immediately, respect must be shown to the will of the people and democratic values, and the rule of law must be upheld. The people’s will cannot be silenced; the voice of democracy cannot be suppressed with trustees.”