Poor response to fires in southeast Turkey blamed on alleged mismanagement by government-appointed administrators

Concerns are growing over the adequacy of emergency services due to alleged negligence and mismanagement by government-appointed administrators in the region, following a series of devastating fires which ravaged several villages in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, the Mezopotamya news site reported.

Serra Bucak, co-mayor of Diyarbakir who was elected in March and replaced a government-appointed administrator mayor during the previous term, said: “Previous administrators made no substantial investment in our equipment or staff firefighting. She pointed out that the city's fire department is severely underequipped and understaffed, a legacy of years of neglect.

Since the 2016 coup attempt, many mayors have been removed from office by the Interior Ministry.

Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki, head of local administration in the pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, said: “The government, which considered the coup as a divine blessing , used these decrees to remove around 100 party members. our mayors in 2016.”

Tiryaki highlighted the financial difficulties of municipalities under trust administration, noting that they are now burdened with insurmountable debt. He argued that these debts are used as a tool to suppress the operations of municipalities.

The Diyarbakir Fire Department, currently operating with 298 personnel and 59 vehicles, is ill-prepared for the demands of the large metropolitan area it serves. “We receive an average of 80 fire calls per day, with numbers reaching as high as 284 calls on some days,” Bucak said, adding that the lack of investment during the administrators' administration has left the department struggling. facing frequent problems. and widespread fires.

A deadly incident on June 20, involving a fire started by a power outage near the borders of Çınar districts in Diyarbakir and Mazıdağı in Mardin, left 15 people dead. Local authorities struggled to respond effectively, with help arriving much later despite urgent calls from residents for air support in fighting the fires.

It is common for Turkish authorities to prosecute elected Kurdish mayors. Nine co-mayors of the DEM party were recently banned from leaving Turkey without a court order.

Following the 2019 municipal elections, many Kurdish mayors were ousted by the Interior Ministry and replaced by government-appointed administrators over allegations of links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a banned party.

The PKK has led an armed campaign against the Turkish state in the southeast of the country since 1984 and is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Kurdish politicians are often accused of belonging to the PKK or spreading propaganda on behalf of the PKK in their speeches, online comments, or participation in events.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan intensified a crackdown on the Kurdish political movement after the failed July 2016 coup, arresting dozens of Kurdish politicians, removing democratically elected mayors and shutting down Kurdish media.

The DEM party's predecessor, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), won 65 municipalities in Turkey's eastern and southeastern regions in the local elections on March 31, 2019, but due to the decisions of the Electoral Board Supreme Court (YSK) of Turkey in six cases and In the Ministry of Interior, almost 50 mayors were dismissed or not allowed to exercise their functions.

In March's local elections, the DEM party won 10 provincial municipalities in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, including the region's largest city, Diyarbakır.

The party won back 37 of the 48 municipalities whose mayors were ousted by the government after the 2019 elections.