The Democratic Local Governments Board of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party held a conference in Amed (Diyarbakır) at the Ali Emiri Conference Hall under the slogan “The commune is the municipality, the municipality is the commune.” The conference, attended by co-mayors, council members and many others, began with a moment of silence.

 

Delivering the opening speech, Canan Kepenç Özkan said, “On March 31, the Kurdish people gave a clear response to trustees (Kayyum) and defended their will. As of June 3, we have faced a third wave of trustee appointments. Our co-mayor in Colemêrg (Hakkari) was unlawfully sentenced, and a decision was made to insist on the trustee system. The Kurdish people did not and will not accept attacks on their will. Currently, 10 of our municipalities are being governed by trustees. The trustee regime must end immediately, and municipalities must be governed by the will of the people.”

 

Calling for commune-based organisation, Canan Kepenç Özkan continued: “Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan has referred to the construction of communes within a democratic system. We are waging a struggle to build a democratic, ecological and women’s liberationist system. Abdullah Öcalan has a statement: ‘Municipalities are a movement to save the earth.’ We will carry out our work with this awareness. We will build communes. At this conference, we will discuss criticism and self-criticism of the past two years and put forward the programme of struggle for the upcoming period.”

 

Following the speech, the conference continued closed to the press.