Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) took over the municipality of Agirî (Ağrı) from AKP in the 31 March local elections. Since the day they took over the municipality, DEM Party co-mayors have been visiting neighbourhood and street by street to solve the problems of the citizens. DEM Party administration is trying to erase the traces of the damage left behind by the AKP municipality.

 

Despite the debts accumulated from the AKP period, new construction equipment was procured and the infrastructure and superstructure problems that had been neglected for years were solved to a great extent. Despite a debt of 505 million from the AKP, 50 kilometres of hot asphalt, 17 parks that were completely demolished were rebuilt, and 3 new parks named Mehmet Uzun, Kesk, sor û zer (Gökkuşağı) and Ahmed Arif were inaugurated in 9 months. The former landfill area was transformed into a recreation area. The municipality also provided important services in transportation and urban aesthetics, and opened the Zîn Women's Solidarity Centre to solve women's problems. On the other hand, the municipality broke new ground by hiring a woman minibus driver for the first time in the city.

 

Residents of the city expressed their satisfaction with the municipality's practices in the last 9 months. Citizens said that apart from Mukaddes Kubilay, Sırrı Sakık, Hüseyin Yılmaz, and most recently Hazal Aras and Mehmet Akkuş, who were elected from Kurdish parties, no one has served Agirî.

 

SERVICE

 

Muhlis Yıldız stated that he is very content with the recent services of the Agirî Municipality and said that Mehmet Akkuş, together with the co-mayors Hüseyin Yılmaz, Mukaddes Kubilay, Sırrı Sakık and Hazal Aras, who were elected from Kurdish parties, provided services to the people.  Yıldız said: "The others have done nothing. There should not even be a comparison between the current co-mayors and the previous mayor. We do not even want to mention Savcı Sayan. Those who serve for Agirî are obvious."

 

'DEMAND FOR NATURAL GAS AND TITLE DEED PROBLEM'

 

Cevdet Aydın, a resident of Cezaevi Quarter, stated that they were satisfied with the services of the municipality, but they demanded that natural gas be supplied to their neighbourhood. Stating that they conveyed some of the problems of the neighbourhood to the municipality, "There are about 500 houses in the neighbourhood and there is a title deed problem here. Solving this problem is very important for us. The municipality's relations with the public are better than other municipalities," he said. 

 

'CARING FOR EVERYONE IS ALSO A SERVICE'

 

Çavuş Dağhan stated that they are content with the work of the municipality and added that additional services such as a library, a cultural centre or courses for children to learn the mother language would be useful. Dağhan said: "Mehmet Akkuş is my neighbour and a very good person. Hazal Aras was the co-mayor of Diyadin Municipality before, and the people were very content then too. When Hazal Aras sees a child, she talks to him, when she sees a young person, she chats with him, when she sees an elderly person, when she sees a woman, she chats with her. In other words, she pays attention to everyone, listens to their problems and this is a service. The previous mayor did not ask you after the election and did not pay attention to you."

 

Noting that the debts of the municipality are high, Dağhan stated that the people should support the municipality by paying their water bills. "Our municipality has no budget, so the Central Bank should help. The municipality has made significant progress in cleaning. I did not vote for the DEM Party in the election, but I did not expect them to work so hard. Job opportunities need to be created. The government should support all municipalities equally. As services are provided to Tutak, Ağrı should be served in the same way," he added.

 

'WE ARE SATISFIED WITH MUNICIPALITY SERVICES'

 

Nusret Akboğa stated that they are satisfied with the services of the new municipality and reminded that the previous municipalities did not use the facilities for the people. Akboğa pointed out that the current municipality works for the people and said: "Although the previous municipalities did some work, they did not fulfil their promises. This municipality, on the other hand, keeps its promises even with limited means. Most of the promises made before the elections were forgotten, but the current municipality fulfils its promises. The previous mayor Savcı Sayan did not fulfil his promise to open a textile factory and this disappointed the people. If that factory had been opened, our young people would not have to migrate to other places. We are satisfied with the work of the current municipality, it is the most active and hardworking municipality in the region."

 

'LANGUAGE COURSES SHOULD BE OPENED'

 

Ali Haydar Özmen stated that the municipality has been working well until today and noted that the old municipality was badly managed. Özmen said: "This municipality provides good service. Would a trustee provide services for the people? We also want Kurdish language courses for young people and kindergartens for children to be opened."

 

MA / Mehmet Güleş